A Tale of Two Heroes
by wisegirl502
Summary: Elizabeth Banks was determined to have an accident free trip but when she sees three kids with swords and daggers, her world gets turned upside down. Along with finding out who & what she really is, she starts to fall for her best friend, Luke Castellan
1. CHP 1: A Dream Turns into a Nightmare

**Hi everyone! This is my second fanfiction story and I hope you enjoy it! Here's the disclaimer for the whole story: I do not own Percy Jackson, the brilliant Rick Riordan does :) Enjoy! And please review!**

Chapter 1: A Dream Turns into a Nightmare

My name is Elizabeth Banks. I'm fourteen years old with blonde hair, hazel eyes and a slender body. I was in Miami on a sunny beach. The warmth of the sun was seeping into me as easily as a sea snake can slither through the water. I should've known there was going to be trouble the moment I saw a blonde boy holding a sword that apparently no one else could see. Then again, we were in Miami and well, need I say more? I looked out over the ocean, enjoying the roaring and crashing sound of the waves. What could go wrong? I should smack myself in the head for that thought. Something goes weird or wrong on almost every trip I go on. For example, two years ago, I was in California and some girl was pissing me off and I don't know what happened but I thought of a wave crashing over her and leaving her with seaweed hanging down like snakes on her head and well, it happened. Then, when I went to a stable, I saw a man being mean to his horse so I silently told the horse it should buck him off and then a voice in my head told me that was what it was planning to do. It was an agitated voice and it certainly wasn't my voice. Sure enough, the horse bucked the man off and he was banned from the ranch (rightly so).

"Come on, Elizabeth. It's time to go back to the hotel." My mom said.  
"Okay." I replied. I picked up my stuff and walked with the no shoes on and enjoying the sand between my toes. I saw a blonde boy, a brunette girl, and a black haired boy running down the street and wondered if they were okay and I saw a man chasing after them. If anyone saw this too, they weren't doing anything about it. My mind started wandering about why they were running from the man. The blonde boy was the same nut job I had seen earlier holding a sword that no one else could see. Maybe the sun was getting to me or I was extremely tired. Whatever it was, it needed to stop because I was determined to have an accident-free vacation. Stupidest. Goal. Ever! Of course something was going to happen on this trip but I was hoping it wouldn't.

"Elizabeth, watch where you're going!" my mother warned me.

"Whoops." I muttered as I nearly stepped into a puddle of god knows what. We entered the hotel and went to our room. I showered and brushed my hair and applied my makeup. When we were done, my parents and I headed out for a really good tasting Cajun dinner. As we walked back, I had a feeling we were being followed so I turned around and looked behind me. A man about five feet six inches was following us.

_I highly recommend you don't mug us. _I thought. He suddenly turned off into an alley and I saw the blonde boy, brunette girl, and black haired boy I had seen earlier today walking closely together. The girl was in the middle and felt a little bit of envy growing inside me. She had two cute boys on either side of her while I was stuck with my parents. Something gleamed in the setting sun's light and I realized it was a dagger in the girl's hand. My eyes got huge and I looked up. The blonde boy caught my eye and caught my gaze where I had been looking at. His eyes flitted between my eyes and the dagger.

"Can you see that?" The boy mouthed.

"Duh!" I mouthed back. He looked genuinely shocked and that struck me as weird. How could someone _not_ see the dagger?

"Come over here!" The boy mouthed.

"No." I mouthed back. The boy sighed and whispered something to his friends. The girl and other boy looked up as I turned away. Great. So some kids escaped from a mental institute and they were probably going to come get me. Why did my curiosity get to me? Well, as they say, curiosity killed the cat.

"Elizabeth, do you want to go to the teen club?" My mother asked.

"Yes please." I replied excitedly. I loved the teen club. Hot guys everywhere! My parents and I walked into the hotel and I forced myself to not turn around to see if those kids were still behind me. My parents signed me into the teen club and I ran up the stairs to the room. The room was partially dark. The lights of the mega flat screen, the other smaller flat screens, and the computers illuminated the room with its neon colored walls and carpet. I sat down and started playing Wii tennis with some random guy (who just happened to be extremely good looking) and was kicking his butt at it. We took a break (after I won the game) and sat down. Out of my peripheral vision, my worst dream came alive. The blonde boy, the brunette girl, and the black haired boy walked into the club. How they got in here, I don't know because you had to have a parent sign you in. Their eyes roamed critically over the room and I had a very distinct feeling they were looking for me. I told the boy that I had been beating at Wii tennis that I was going to go dancing. Now, I was desperate to get away from those kids. I would never have gone in the dance room if it weren't for them. You couldn't hear yourself think, much less what other people were saying so I decided it was my best bet to avoid them. I walked stealthily to the dance room without being caught. I breathed in relief and headed to the dance floor where I was immediately swept into the flurry of dancing. Some guy grabbed my hand and twirled me around. He was a big buff guy that you didn't really want to mess with but I let him dance with me because the three kids I was avoiding came into the dance room. Something that sounded like growling emanated from somewhere but it was so loud that I figured it was the music. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned fearfully. My fear was confirmed when I saw the blonde boy looking at me with his eyes full of anxiety.

"We need to talk." He shouted but it sounded like more of a whisper.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" I yelled over the deafening music.

"My name is Luke. Listen; please just come with me so I can talk to you." He pleaded.

"Fine." I mumbled and allowed him to lead me out of the dance room.

"What's your name?" Luke asked.

"Elizabeth Banks. If you're trying to bribe me to do something, it won't work." I declared.

"We're not trying to bribe you. We're here because you can see what others can't." Luke looked at me seriously.

"What do you mean?" I inquired cautiously.

"What is this?" Luke questioned me, taking a dagger out of his pocket.

"Do I look blind to you? It's a dagger." I retorted.

"What is this?" Luke questioned some random kid.

"Whoa! A light saber thingymajiggy!" The boy exclaimed.

"Thanks. I was trying to tell her that." Luke answered coolly and the boy walked off.

"Why did he call it a light saber?" I asked.

"That's what he thought it was." Luke responded.

"What are you doing with my dance partner?" The big guy I had been dancing with had come up beside me.

"I was talking to her." Luke replied calmly, but there was certain tenseness in his shoulders and his face. Something was bothering him.

"You shall die demigod." The guy snarled and growled deep in his throat. So I hadn't imagined it!

"Get away from me freak! No one can growl like that unless they're a lion or a monster and since you're not a lion obviously… oh my god." My eyes widened in horror as the guy with a tattoo that said _I love Babycakes_ tattooed on his arm, also the guy I had danced with, created a fiery ball.

"Duck!" Luke yelled and pulled me down. The fiery mass flew past us and crashed into a wall. Luke grabbed me and pulled me down the stairs, his companions behind me.

"We need to get out of here! NOW!" Luke ordered.


	2. CHP 2: An Old Teacher Tries to Kill Me

**Hi everyone, hope you like this chapter, it took me a while to write because I kept getting distracted by things… (2 hours later) Sorry, I was watching Robin Hood men in tights. Please review and enjoy!**

Chapter 2: An Old Teacher Tries to Kill Me

After the Luke and his companions escorted me out of that place and after alerting my parents that the time had come that I needed to go to camp, we were out of the hotel and at the airport waiting for a flight to New York in less than an hour.

"So where are we going?" I inquired.

"It's a summer camp for kids like us." Luke replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not the best at explaining this. Just trust me that nothing can harm you there."

"No fire-throwing monster people with tattoos?" I asked. Luke chuckled.

"Yes."

"There are?"

"No, I mean yes, there are no fire-throwing monster people with tattoos there."

"Good. What was he anyway?"

"He was a Lastrygonian."

"Wait, you mean those cannibalistic people that tried to kill Odysseus?"

"Yeah, those people." Luke agreed. "It's time to board. You can have the window. Hopefully Zeus won't blast us out of the sky."

"That's real reassuring. Thank you for saying that because I'm so calm as it is already." I told him.

"Oh, good."

"I was being sarcastic."

"I know. So was I." Luke answered as we stood in line. I rolled my eyes but stuck near him in case that cannibal decided it wanted me for a midnight snack again. We got on the plane without a hassle and I took the window seat, Luke took the middle, the brunette girl whose name was Jane, took the aisle seat, and Henry took the aisle seat opposite from her. Leaning my head up against the window, I stared outside at the pitch black sky. My heart pounded from anxiety.

"Are you okay?" Luke questioned me.

"Yeah, just nervous… and cold." I answered back.

"Here, take my jacket. I don't need it." Luke handed his jacket to me and I accepted it gratefully. He may be a nut job, but he was a sweet nut job. I leaned my head up against the window again and closed my eyes.

"_Join me." A steely voice said._

"_Who are you?"I inquired, sounding braver than I felt._

"_There is no need for you to know who I am just yet."_

"_Why do you want me to join you? What will happen if I don't?"_

"_I can't tell you what will happen… but I can show you."_

_The pitch black setting changed and I was on a street in New York City but the strange thing was that the street was completely empty. Then the smell of blood and metal reached my nose and I almost gagged. My heart beat against my chest like a snare drum. Something told me to turn around and I did, instantly regretting it._

_Corpses lie on the ground everywhere around me. Blood stained the road and armor was scattered in the street, looking like it had gone through a shredder._

"_Make it disappear." I whispered on the verge of tears._

"_Join me and this won't happen."_

"_No!"_

"_Elizabeth, wake up." Someone said. This voice was different… it was softer. "Wake up!"_

**Luke's POV**

Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open and she looked disoriented while frightened at the same time. She was beautiful, I had to admit. Her hazel eyes were always bright and full of curiosity. Her blonde hair shone like in the dim light. It looked like she was glowing. Who knows, maybe she was.

"Hey sleeping beauty, you're hard to wake up. Were you having a bad dream?" I asked curiously. She sat up and yawned.

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it." Elizabeth mumbled.

"Okay. Just so you know, now that you know who you are… kind of… your dreams will be more like psychic dreams I guess is what you would call them. They can be dreams from the past or present or sometimes the future." I explained.

"You should've told me that earlier." Elizabeth retorted.

"When did I have the time? We were getting chased by a Lastrygonian and then we had to explain to your parents and then we had to go to the airport and then you fell asleep right when we got on the plane." I shot back but regretted it when she flinched.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be mean like that." I apologized.

"It's okay. Loud noises don't mix well with me right after I wake up. How much longer is it until we land?"

"We're landing now." I responded and on cue, the plane bounced onto the runway. The pilot slammed on the brakes and everyone leaned forward from the force. Once the plane finally slowed down and had pulled into a gate, Elizabeth, Jane, Henry and I got off the plane and once the girls had used the bathroom, we walked outside. None of us had any baggage; Elizabeth's parents told her that they would send her some clothes when she got to camp.

"We need to get a taxi." Henry declared.

"Oh no, we can walk to camp." Jane said.

"We can?" Elizabeth questioned.

"No! I was being sarcastic!" Jane retorted.

"So was I." Elizabeth answered, receiving a glare from Jane and a smile from Henry and me.

"Let me do it." Jane stepped in front of Henry and waved her hand up high. Like a charm, a taxi stopped right in front of them. Jane grinned. "And that's how it's done."

"It's only because you're pretty." Henry commented.

"It worked though didn't it?" Jane pointed out. Henry shrugged and took one of the seats in the back, followed by Elizabeth and then me. Jane took the front seat.

"Where to?" The cab driver asked. Jane told him where to go and that they needed to get there fast. I was glad he listened to her but he drove like a freaking maniac! There wasn't much spoken in the cab except for the occasional "Stop snoring!" or "Stop that! It's annoying the heck out of me!" or "Jane, stop hitting on the taxi driver" which later meant that Henry and I would have the Hermes and Apollo cabin painted in pink that lasted for two weeks.

The cab driver let us out after Henry paid him and we leapt out of the car. The four of us walked to Half-Blood Hill and the pang in my chest that I got when I saw the pine tree arose as usual. My best friend had died on this hill trying to defend Annabeth and me. Her father, Zeus, took pity on her and turned her into a tree.

"Luke, are you okay?" Elizabeth whispered. She had fallen back and waited for me while Henry and Jane had gone ahead.

"Yeah, bad memory here, that's all." I told her. She nodded and suddenly turned around. "What is it?"

"I thought I heard something. My nerves must be acting up." She murmured but Elizabeth took a step closer to me (which I really didn't mind). We continued walking and were about to reach the top of the hill where Henry and Jane were waiting for us. Elizabeth and I had almost reached Jane and Henry before a growl sounded from behind us. Elizabeth and I whipped around to see what it was.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Elizabeth breathed.

"You know him?" Henry whispered. He and Jane had come and stood next to us.

"He's my fifth grade teacher… _was_ my fifth grade teacher. I don't know how but I destroyed him and he disappeared in a puff of yellow looking dust." Elizabeth explained.

"Give me the girl." The man ordered.

"No, she stays with us." Luke declared. Something whistled past my ear and I jumped.

"_Di immortals! _A manticore." Jane muttered. "Attack plan Sparta."

"What in the world does that mean?" Elizabeth hissed.

"That means you stay out of the way while Luke, Henry and I destroy this thing!" Jane spat. Elizabeth gave the "death glare" to Jane but obeyed somewhat reluctantly.

Henry, Jane and I surrounded the manticore in a circle. The manticore flicked its tail and those deadly projectiles that were ejected from it whistled dangerously close by my ear.

"If you don't give me the girl, you'll find out how deadly accurate I can throw!" The manticore threatened.

"I don't remember taking pretty girls as being in your job description!" Henry teased. The manticore whirled around and attempted to strike the Henry but Henry brought up his shield and blocked the blow.

"Is that all you got?" Henry shouted and bellowed. The manticore was distracted by an attacking Jane. He slammed her with his tail and she flew back, hit a tree, and lie motionless on the ground. Henry stopped laughing and his expression turned fierce.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I stood at the base of a tree and watched with horror as the manticore threw Jane against a tree.

"Oh, screw it." I muttered. I ran from the tree and towards an unconscious Jane. A pretty good sized knot was forming on her head. Her dagger gleamed in the bright moonlight. I heard a yell and turned around. Henry had been thrown and was staggering up. He collapsed in pain. Luke was the only one left and he was getting battered. I grabbed Jane's dagger and ran to the manticore (a.k.a. my fifth grade teacher that tried to kill me).

**Luke's POV**

The manticore had cornered me, there was no way out. It was going to take a miracle for me to get out of this.

"Hey moron!" Elizabeth shouted. The manticore turned around and snarled.

"Giving yourself up to save your friends?" The manticore asked.

"Elizabeth! No!" I yelled.

"No, I'm here to destroy you." Elizabeth's comment stunned the manticore and she took the opportunity to throw Jane's dagger. Unfortunately, the manticore regained from his shock and sidestepped the dagger easily which stuck into a tree and quivered.

"You have a nice aim for a girl." The manticore told Elizabeth.

"The same goes for you." Elizabeth replied.

"I'm not a girl!" The manticore screamed.

"You could've fooled me." Elizabeth smirked. What was she doing? Was she trying to get the manticore to shoot at her? If she was, it worked. The manticore fired at least five projectiles at Elizabeth. She didn't even have time to move. The projectiles embedded themselves into Elizabeth's legs. She smiled in pain.

"Is that all you got? That didn't hurt a bit!" Elizabeth taunted but I could tell that she was in pain. I had been shot by the manticore before and just one of those projectile things felt like a semi-truck running over wherever you got hit; I can't imagine what five felt like.

The manticore fired even more projectiles embedded themselves in her leg. How she was still standing up, I don't know. Elizabeth looked extremely pale, but she still had an undeniable look of fierceness on her face. She continued to taunt the manticore some more (If you're wondering why I wasn't helping her, it's because a really heavy tree branch had fallen on my leg and I'm pretty sure it was broken). By now, I counted 23 of the projectile things in her leg. The projectiles only meant to cause pain, but I'm sure that of you were shot with enough, it could kill you.

"Why won't you collapse girl?" The manticore asked in an angry amazement.

"I'm not weak like you!" Elizabeth shouted, but her voice cracked in the end. The manticore heard this and grinned evilly. He obviously knew that if he shot her again, she would pass out. He flicked his tail and the projectiles embedded themselves in Elizabeth's legs. She predictably collapsed on the spot. I removed the tree branch from my leg and staggered up quietly. Pain shot up through my leg and it took all my will power to move forward. I stalked the manticore and if Elizabeth saw me, she didn't let on.

Five steps to go.

"You silly girl."

Four steps to go.

"What were you thinking?"

Three steps to go.

"Did you really think you could defeat _me_?"

Two steps to go.

"No. I didn't think I could beat you, but I knew someone else could." Elizabeth whispered, her consciousness slowly slipping away.

One step to go.

"Who is that?" The manticore inquired with a grin.

"Me." I stated and stabbed the manticore in the back; he howled in shock and disappeared in a cloud of stinky yellow dust. I heaved a sigh of relief and knelt down next to Elizabeth whose eyes closed shut.

"Elizabeth!" I whispered frantically. "Elizabeth! Please wake up!"

"Is she okay?" A girl asked. I turned around to find Jane being supported by Henry, who looked a sickly green color.

"No, she's not. She has at least twenty five of those projectile things in her leg. We need to get her to the infirmary immediately." I told them, starting to lift Elizabeth up.

"Luke, you can't carry her in your shape." Henry sighed exasperatedly.

"Watch me." I retorted, and lifted Elizabeth up in my arms. She was pale and the moon's light that washed over made her look like a goddess come down to Earth. The three of us, Elizabeth in my arms, walked past the entrance to Camp Half-Blood and to the infirmary; Argus was there. He had eyes all over his body, and all the eyes widened at the sight of us coming to the infirmary.

"Argus, go get Chiron. This is an emergency." I told him. Argus nodded and ran to the Big House. Argus didn't talk much and there was a rumor that it was because he had an eye on his tongue. We walked in the infirmary and I laid Elizabeth on an empty bed. Chiron appeared beside me a few seconds later, scaring the crap out of me.

"What happened?" Chiron inquired gravely. I told him the story.

"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here right now." I said with finality. Chiron looked at me.

"All of you need to have a night's rest. I will let the camp know that you arrived in the morning. Luke, your leg is broken, Henry, your ankle is sprained, and Jane, you have a good sized knot on your head." Chiron said.

"No wonder I have a killer headache." Jane mumbled as she walked to any empty bed. Luke hopped over to the empty bed next to Elizabeth while Henry hobbled over to the empty bed next to Jane (and if anyone is wondering, Henry and Jane are dating).

My head hit the pillow and I was enveloped into the peaceful darkness of sleep.

**A/N: So that was the second chapter, hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to get the third one posted as soon as possibly (hopefully I won't get too distracted!)!**


	3. CHP 3: The New Kid

**Hey, okay, here's the third chapter. Hope you enjoy it! Grab a snack and a drink because it's a long one! Sorry about that!**

Chapter 3: The New Kid

**Elizabeth's POV**

I woke up slowly. My eyes did not want to open, but I forced them open. The place I was in was alien to me. I had no clue where I was.

"Where am I? I though, sitting up and regretting it immediately. My vision became spotted and the room was spinning, almost like I was in a washing machine. Once my migraine receded and my vision cleared, I slowly turned my head and took in my surroundings.

Beds were lined up against two walls opposite from each other with nightstands between each bed, a big cabinet and a sink were on the back wall. There were windows above each bed but the shades were pulled down so the room was somewhat dark. It was dark enough where you could easily fall asleep but light enough that you could see where you were going without falling over something. A glass of apple juice looking stuff was in the nightstand next to me. On it was a hand-written note telling me to drink it. Warily, I picked it up because I had a feeling it would help. Thank gods I had a good grip on the glass because the taste of the drink shocked me so much that I almost dropped it from surprise. The drink didn't taste like apple juice at all. It tasted like sugar cookie cookie dough and it was so good! The glass was drained quickly and I was disappointed when there was no more in there. Now, I decided, it was time to figure out where I was. Not noticing that my right leg was bandaged up, I stood and fell down quite promptly. The pain that shot up my leg made me cringe. When the pain had pretty much subsided, I stood up slowly and carefully, not wanting to experience the pain again. I hopped over to the door on my left foot. The view shocked me when I looked out the door. I leaned against a wooden rail and studied my surroundings. There were kids sword fighting in the distance, some half-people and half-goat things playing reed pipes in a strawberry field, a big blue house next to the infirmary, some kids were shooting arrows at targets and getting bulls-eyes every time (show offs), a glittering shoreline, and a stable. I saw something flying in the air and unless I was hallucinating, they were horses with wings.

"How did you get yourself out here?"A voice asked me. I turned around and fell down but thankfully was caught.

"Thanks." I murmured. I was looking into the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. He seemed strangely familiar.

"No problem. How are you feeling? Do you remember me?"

"I feel okay, I guess. You seem familiar to me but I can't really remember." I admitted.

"That's okay, considering what you went through; I would be very surprised if you could remember anything. I'm Luke."

I did remember him. I remembered him getting battered and then I remembered the manticore leaning over me and seeing him creeping up soundlessly behind it.

"I remember you. You saved my life." I told him.

"I'm glad you remember me. And actually, it's the other way around. You saved my life."

"I did?"

"Yeah." Luke smiled and looked at me, which was kind of creeping me out. "Sorry I'm staring, it's just you're really pretty." Luke broke the silence with the compliment and nothing in heaven or on earth could hide how much I was blushing. "Sorry if I embarrassed you."

"You're fine. It's just no guy has ever told me that." I replied bashfully.

"That's surprising. Come on, I'll show you around." Luke went inside and made some crashing noises. He came back brushing his arms off and with some dust in his hair which he shook out with his hand.

"I was trying to find some crutches. I don't know where they went but they've all disappeared. Would you mind if I helped you?"

"I don't think I have the strength to use crutches anyway." I chuckled. Luke smiled his charming smile and walked over to me. He put his arm around my waist and I put my arm around his shoulders which was kind of hard considering how tall he was. Don't get me wrong, I'm not short, but he was half a foot taller than me. He showed me around camp, pointing out the cabins, which kids had which parents, who was going out with whom, who hated who, who could kick whose butt, and so on and so forth. We received a lot of quizzical looks from campers.

"Hey Luke! How are you?" A girl questioned as we walked by.

"I'm good Jamie, how are you?" Luke responded cheerfully.

"I'm good." Jamie answered with a flirtatious grin on her face. We continued walking and she wasn't the only one that asked him how he was doing with a flirtatious smile. When we were back on the porch of the infirmary, I asked "You do know they were all flirting with you back there?"

"Really, I didn't notice." Luke seemed like he genuinely didn't know. "How could you tell?"

"I can just tell, plus, I speak from experience." I told him. "You really didn't notice?"

"No, I really didn't. For one, I like someone else, and two, I was too busy looking at you." I blushed so much right then when he said that that Luke thought I was running a fever. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I kind of spaced out, that's all."

"Okay, well, you look really tired, and after two days ago, I can imagine why. I'm amazed you stayed awake this long." Luke commented.

"Wait? Two days?" I looked at him with a shocked expression.

"Yeah, I don't know if you remember but we kind of fought a manticore and we were chased by it all the way to camp. It was about to kill me, but, no offense, you did something really stupid. You taunted it, but that probably saved my life, although you almost lost _your_ life in the process. Thank you." Luke was genuinely grateful for that. "You're pretty, smart and vicious. I like that."

"Thanks. What happened to my leg?"

"You were standing up and taunting it and it shot those projectile things into your leg. You were shot by at least twenty five of those things. You blacked out from the pain." Luke explained.

"Oh. Man was I stupid. I'm happy that you're alive though." I smiled and attempted to hop over to the door, but I was so tired that I practically fell, that, plus I tripped over nothingness, which I could never figure out how you trip over _nothing_!

"Here, I'll help you." Luke offered. I expected him to just put his arm around my waist again, but instead, he lifted me up and carried me to my bed. I mumbled thank you and fell asleep when my head hit the pillow.

**Luke's POV**

Elizabeth fell asleep immediately once I laid her on her bed. I couldn't believe I had told her some of the stuff I did. She was just so easy to talk to and I felt so comfortable around her.

Now for confession time. There _were_ crutches when I went to go get them for her. Don't ask me why I didn't get them for her, I just didn't.

I walked out of the infirmary and towards the Big House where Chiron and Dionysus were playing their usual game of pinochle.

"Ah, Luke, what can I help you with?" Chiron inquired pleasantly.

"I wanted to let you know that Elizabeth woke up. She got herself out of her bed and out of the infirmary." I explained. "I showed her around and was about to bring her here but she was starting to fade again, so I brought her back to the infirmary and she fell asleep immediately."

"I see. Thank you for telling me. When she wakes up again, please bring her to me if I'm not there when she does." Chiron ordered.

"Yes sir. I must be going; I have an archery lesson." I excused myself and headed to my lesson, deep in thought.

"Hey Luke!" A voice shouted. Turning around, I saw Jamie running towards me with her long blonde hair flying in the wind and her gray eyes full of excitement.

"Hey Jamie, what's up?" I asked.

"Who was that girl? You know the one you were helping around?"

"That was Elizabeth. Henry, Jane and I picked her up when we were in Miami after we were attacked by a Lastrygonian." I told her.

"Oh, okay. I was just curious." She smiled sweetly. "Where are you going?"

"Archery."

"Oh, me too. Mind if I walk with you?"

"Sure." I shrugged. "Why not?"

"So what happened two nights ago when you arrived here? I heard that there was a manticore and why is Elizabeth in the infirmary?"

"Yeah, we were attacked by a manticore and it's only thanks to Elizabeth that we survived. She was shot in the leg by at least twenty five of those projectile thingy's and that allowed me to sneak up on the manticore once I had the branch off my leg."

"Oh you poor thing. How is your leg?"

"It's fine."

"What Elizabeth did was really stupid."

"It saved my life and Henry and Jane's as well, it may have been stupid, but she saved our lives." I defended.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Jamie apologized.

"It's okay; Elizabeth knows what she did was stupid but she said she was glad I was alive." I smiled at the thought of her telling me that.

"I see." Jamie commented, looking a little mad. Fair warning; never hang out with a mad daughter of Athena. "Well, listen, I was wondering if you wanted to spar a little later. I need a challenge and you're damn near impossible to beat."

"Sure, what time?"

"How about during our free period after lunch?"

"Sounds good." I agreed as we headed to an empty target. I stationed myself in front of the target and waited for my instructor.

**Elizabeth's POV**

The sound of two people talking woke me up.

"She must be a daughter of Aphrodite." A man said.

"I don't know. She could be a daughter of Athena but her eyes; they're hazel, not gray. Perhaps she is a child of Apollo." A deeper voice suggested. "She's awake."

"Who are you people?" I murmured.

"Polite one isn't she?" The first voice mumbled. I opened my eyes and saw two men standing above me. One had a leopard jumpsuit on and watery blue eyes and it was obvious he was no stranger to alcohol. The second man… the second man wasn't a man at all. He was half man and half horse. He was a centaur.

"I'm Chiron, the activities director at camp. This is Mr. D is the camp director." The second voice was Chiron.

"Oh, um, Mr. D, are you Dionysus?" I guessed.

"Why, aren't you smart?" Mr. D said looking bored.

"How are you feeling?" Chiron asked.

"I feel like I was run over by a semi-truck." I mumbled.

"That's understandable considering what you went through. You do know the story, right?"

"Yes, I know the story."

"Okay, well that makes things less complicated. Do you feel well enough to come sit outside and walk to the Big House?"

"Yes." I said, standing up. I followed Chiron and Mr. D, hobbling down the steps and to the porch at the Big House. I sat down exhaustedly.

"Elizabeth, what is your last name?" Chiron inquired.

"Banks."

"Your mother wouldn't perhaps be Melanie Banks, would it?"

"Yes, that's her. Why?"

"You look just like her. Your mother is a demigod; she was a daughter of Aphrodite, so Aphrodite is your grandmother."

"Who's my father?"

"We do not know who your father is. You have yet to be claimed, but depending on who claims you first, that is whose cabin you will be placed in. For now, you shall be put in Cabin Eleven, Hermes cabin."

"Yes sir, um, may I ask something?" I questioned.

"Of course you may."

"What time is it and when's dinner?"

"It is four-thirty and dinner is at five-thirty. Why don't I show you to your cabin, and your stuff is already there."

"My stuff? But I didn't bring anything."

"Your parents sent a suitcase for you. You are definitely related to Aphrodite with how much stuff your parents sent you." Chiron laughed good-naturedly while I blushed from embarrassment. "Trust me; you're not half as bad as the kids directly related to Aphrodite. They have five suitcases each."

"That makes me feel better… a little. One more thing, could I take a shower, I feel disgusting."

"Yes, of course. Come with me." Chiron walked next to me and motioned for me to follow him.

"Goodbye Mr. D. It was nice meeting you." I waved. Mr. D grunted but I am pretty sure I saw a little smile form on his face. I followed Chiron towards a strange arrangement of cabins. Chiron pointed to Cabin Eleven, the most run down looking cabin.

"That's cabin eleven. I will have someone come show you around. How about someone you're familiar with, hmm? How about Luke? He seems to like you."

"That's sounds good."

"I'll leave you now. Make sure you're ready in an hour." Chiron warned me.

"Yes sir." I replied, bowing to him and heading into the Hermes cabin where I found two boys digging through my stuff.

"Hey, Connor, do you think this would look good on me?" One said, holding up my favorite blue tank top.

"It brings out the blue in your eyes. Here, what about this?" Connor held up my pink bra. That was enough.

"What are you doing with my stuff?" I yelled. Connor and Travis looked at each other, looked at me, and bolted. I followed them. Travis still had my blue tank top. My leg didn't hurt anymore so I flew like the wind after them.

"Give it back!" I shouted. We ran through the sword fighting arena where I received some bewildered looks. I thought I saw Luke fighting with the girl named Jamie and I'm pretty sure he saw me too, but I couldn't care less; I was too busy running after Connor and Travis.

"Catch us if you can!" Connor taunted. This only made me put on a burst of speed. Both of them saw this before running into a tree.

"Idiots." I mumbled running over to them and snatching my tank top out of their clutches. Both of them were grinning stupidly.

"That was fun. Sorry newbie, we were just having fun with you." Travis grinned.

"Well it wasn't fun for me. My leg is hurting now thanks to you two." I muttered.

"Sorry, we didn't think you would actually chase us. We thought that if you did, you would trip or stumble or something."

"At least I didn't run into a tree." I pointed out and turned away.

I finally reached the showers and it felt good to get all the dirt and grime out of my hair. I put on my blue tank top, some short denim shorts, some hoop earrings, and my Pandora bracelet. Then I put on my makeup and blow dried my hair. How I did that all in forty five minutes, I don't know. When I had picked up everything, I headed to the Hermes cabin which was suddenly very crowded. I was sleeping on the last bed in the room, which was between two beds and one of the beds was in a corner. I had made sure I had safely tucked my suitcases under my bed before I took a shower. They looked like they hadn't been tampered with anymore and I was dismayed when I found out that Connor and Travis belonged in the Hermes cabin.

"Hey, looking good!" Travis or Connor shouted. I smirked at them and plopped down on my bed. I sat back up and bent down to pull one of my suitcases from underneath the bed. I pulled it out and as I was standing up, bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" I said immediately.

"You're fine; that was my fault anyway. I'm Will Hunter, cabin leader." Will held out his hand. He was a tall blonde guy with blue eyes like Luke's.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Elizabeth Banks." I shook his hand.

"I know," Will grinned. "Luke has told me a lot about you."

"He has?" I was kind of surprised.

"Yes, he thinks very highly of you after you saved his life." Will explained. I blushed.

"He saved me, I just created the distraction." I shrugged.

"He also told me you were modest as well." Will laughed, and then he turned to the cabin that was scrambling everywhere. "Hey everyone!"

Everyone turned around.

"Say hello to our newest camper! Elizabeth Banks!" Will announced, putting his arm around me. He was handsome, and I realized that most of the Hermes' boys were.

"Hi!" Everyone waved at me and turned back to whatever they were doing.

"So how old are you?" Will asked, sitting down on the bed next to mine.

"I'm fourteen. How old are you?"

"I'm nineteen. This is my last year here."

"Oh, why is that?" I was kind of disappointed. I thought I had made another friend. Will shrugged.

"I'm getting too old for here. Don't get me wrong, I'll still be coming here every once in a while to brush up and help out sometimes, but I have college to worry about. It's too hard being here and doing the homework too."

"What do you mean? Isn't this just a summer camp?" I inquired, sitting down and facing him.

"It is for most people, but you can choose to stay all year if you want. I'm a year-rounder. My mom, she doesn't really care for me." Will admitted.

"I'm so sorry." I said sympathetically. I couldn't imagine life without my mom.

"It's okay. The people here at camp are my family." He threw his arms out to emphasize his meaning, but his eyes gave him away, they were sad. However, I didn't show that I knew the truth about what he felt, and I smiled.

"Elizabeth!" Someone shouted. I turned my head and Will turned around to see who was coming. Luke came bursting out of the crowd.

"Hi Luke!" I exclaimed.

"I went to the infirmary to wake you up for dinner, but you weren't there, so then I went to the sword fighting arena because I had a… meeting with a friend and then I see you running through the woods after Connor and Travis but you were running so fast I couldn't catch up to you." Luke explained without taking a breath.

"Hi there Luke. Did you run here to see Elizabeth?" Will asked with an amused grin.

"Yeah, I wanted to see how she was feeling."

"I feel fine." I said.

"Are you sure?" Luke asked.

"I'm sure." I assured him.

"Good." Luke smiled. Something growled loudly and I blushed.

"Was that your stomach?" Will laughed.

"Yes." I admitted quietly.

"I like a girl with an appetite. You're in luck too. Dinner is ready!" Will told me as conch shell sounded out in the distance. I'm not sure how I knew it was a conch shell. "Cabin Eleven, fall in!" Will ordered. Apparently, we lined up by seniority, so of course I was dead last. Luke was up near the head of the line and of course, I had Connor and Travis standing right in front of me. Luke turned around and smiled at me; I smiled back. We walked out of the cabin and towards an open dining pavilion. The air was filled with the smell of barbecue and yes! It was barbecue! I'm from Texas and I know people will argue with me on this one, but Texas has the _**best**_ barbecue! My mouth watered as we sat down. The Hermes table was the only table completely filled. Luke and Will had saved me a seat between the two of them. Gods! Could I get any luckier? I had two good looking guys sitting on either side of me. I wasn't the only one who noticed; a lot of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin looked at me. Some of the looks were surprise, some were envy, and some were a "Way to go!" look. Nymphs set down platters of barbecue, vegetables, fruit, and potatoes in front of us. Everyone heaped the food onto their plates. Once I had filled my plate to the brim with food (Hey, I hadn't eaten in two days, so don't judge), I stood up like everyone else. Everyone walked over the fire that was blazing and dropped in the biggest piece of barbecue or the juiciest strawberry, or the most buttery roll.

"What are we doing?" I whispered to Luke and Will.

"We're giving an offering to the gods." Will explained before Luke could even open his mouth. "They like the smell."

"That's… never mind." I shrugged and threw in the biggest piece of barbecue in to the fire.

"Aphrodite." I said. Then I made a silent plea: _Father, whomever you are, give me a sign to let me know who you are._ The smell from the burnt food was very pleasant and I could see why the gods liked it. Then something else came: the smell of the sea breeze. I figured it was from the shoreline that the camp bordered but the strange thing was that there was no breeze tonight.

I followed Luke and Will back to the table where we pigged out. My stomach no longer growled at me and I leaned back a little when I was done.

"Gods! That was one of the best meals I've ever had!" I sighed contentedly.

"The food is always good!" Luke grinned, leaning back with me. Will was soon to follow.

"Now it's time for the camp sing-along." Will said after five minutes. The three of us stood up along with everyone else and walked to the amphitheater. The Apollo cabin led the sing-along and we roasted marshmallows for s'mores. Luke, Will and I kept getting marshmallows all over our hands and once or twice, we had to stomp on a marshmallow to stop it from catching the camp on fire.

The night ended all too soon. I was a little upset when it was over but at the same time, I was extremely tired. We walked to the cabin where I grabbed my jammies to change into. I walked to the bathroom where I changed into them, brushed my teeth and brushed my hair. Then I walked to my bed and threw myself onto it. The pillow smelled like lavender and something else I couldn't quite place.

"It is valerian root and lavender you smell." Will walked over to me and sat on the edge of my bed. I sat up and looked at him quizzically. "It's on all our pillows. It helps calm the mind and helps you fall asleep."

"Where's your bed?" I asked. Will pointed to the bed right next to mine in the corner. Gods! I'm not sure if I was excited about that or nervous! I mean, heck yeah I was excited I had a handsome guy sleeping in the bed next to me (that sounds wrong, I know), but what if I said I liked him in my dreams… not saying I do of course. Okay, fine, maybe I do like him a little, but I also like Luke. Gods, I am so confused!

"I'm glad I have someone that I know next to me." I smiled. "Where's Luke's bed?"

Will's smile wavered a little before someone, Luke, said, "Right here!"

I turned and saw Luke plop down on the bed on the other side of mine. Great! Just great! Now I had the two guys I liked sleeping on either side of me. I couldn't decide if I was the luckiest or unluckiest girl in the world right then.

"Great! Now I have two people I know!" I grinned. Will and Luke grinned back at me. We all looked over at Connor and Travis fighting with two girls at the other end of the cabin.

"I'd better go straighten that out. Good night Elizabeth." Will nodded his head, patted me on my bare shoulder and left. Luke watched him leave and I'm pretty sure with a sigh of relief.

"I think he likes you." Luke finally said.

"You think?" I inquired.

"Yeah. He only pats a girl on the shoulder if he likes her." Luke pointed out. He turned to look at me and there was a hint of jealously in his eyes. He seemed hesitant about something.

"Here, come sit on my bed. Then we don't have to yell what we're saying and let the whole cabin know what we're talking about." I laughed, patting the bed. Luke chuckled and sat down on the bed, much closer to me than Will had. He must have had some kind of cologne on, and whatever it was, it was intoxicating.  
"So how was your first full day at camp?" Luke inquired.

"It was fun. I enjoyed it." I spoke quietly.

"Are you okay?" Luke looked at me questioningly.

"Yeah, just a little bit of homesickness I guess. I miss my parents and pets." I admitted quietly.

"Don't worry, everyone feels that way. Do you want to call them?"

"Yes, but I don't have my cell phone."

"Chiron took it. We aren't allowed to have cell phones really but… here." Luke handed me a purple razor phone.

"My phone!" I whispered in amazement. "How did you get it?"

"My father is the god of thieves and I am very good at sneaking around. Go, call them. I'll make up some lie to Will if he asks where you're going." Luke spoke quietly.

"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that means to me!" I looked at him gratefully.

"Don't worry about it. Now go make that phone call." Luke urged me. I stood up quickly and walked of the cabin. I made the call and talked to my parents. I left out the part of me and the manticore and told them I was having a good time but that I missed them. When I was done, I hung up and headed back to Cabin Eleven. The lights were out and I crept into my bed. Will was asleep but Luke opened his eyes when I came in.

"Did you talk to them?" Luke whispered.

"Yes. Thank you so much again." I repeated. Luke smiled and the sliver of moonlight that entered our cabin shone on his face. His eyes sparked in the moonlight and his blonde hair shone. He could've passed as a Greek god.

"No problem. See you in the morning, Elizabeth." Luke smiled.

"Good night Luke." I answered quietly. I closed my eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

**So that was the third chapter, sorry it was so long! I didn't know when to stop! I'll get the fourth chapter posted as soon as possible and I am also putting a poll up on which state has the best barbecue (just so you know, it's Texas).**


	4. CHP 4: Life is Full of Shockers

**Hey everyone, here's chapter four! I hope you enjoy it! Grab another snack and another drink because it because it's going to be another long one!**

Chapter 4: Life is Full of Shockers

"Elizabeth? Wake up, sleeping beauty." The monster said. I threw a fist at the monster but it caught my wrist. "Wake up! It's almost time for breakfast."

Now what monster would say that? I opened my eyes to slits and realized it had been a dream. Two shadowy figures were standing over me.

"The zombie wakes!" Someone laughed.

"Who knew someone could throw a punch like that in their sleep?" Another person laughed. My eyes opened wider and I jumped, making my other arm fly out at the figure. Someone caught it.

"Easy, Elizabeth. It's just me." Luke smiled.

"Sorry." I mumbled pulling my hands out of Luke's grip to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"You're fine. I feel bad for anyone who gets in a fist fight with you." Luke joked, and I smiled weakly.

"How can you two be so cheery in the morning?" I muttered.

"I have a feeling you're not an early bird." Will guessed.

"Well, aren't you a Sherlock Holmes." I said sarcastically. Will just smiled, making me want to smack him. "Breakfast is in thirty minutes, so you should start getting ready, beautiful." Will put his hand on my shoulder and it was warm on my bare cold shoulder.

"Fine." I yawned and putting my hand down on something. I looked over and found my hand on top of Luke's. I quickly drew it away and saw a flicker of anger in Will's eyes but it disappeared so quickly, I thought I imagined it.

"I have to go check to see where Connor and Travis are. It worries me when I don't know where they are." Will waved and left. I sat up and leaned against the wall with a sigh.

"Bad dream?" Luke asked curiously. I nodded. "Don't worry, you're not the only one."

I looked at Luke closely and saw dark circles under his eyes.

"The manticore was after me again." I told him sullenly.

"I killed it in my dream. I was reliving the other day." Luke said. "Come on, I'll help you up." Luke offered his hand and I took it. He pulled me out of the bed like I was as light as a feather. I stumbled and he caught me for the thousandth time by putting both hands on my waist as I put my hands on his shoulders to steady myself.

"Am I interrupting something?" Will questioned.

"What?" I turned to look at him. "Oh, no, I fell… again, and Luke caught me. That's all." I explained, hastily taking my hands off of Luke and Luke taking his hands off of me. I suddenly felt vulnerable when Luke stopped holding me. He had held me firmly but gently. I remembered his pulse I felt from the vein in his neck and the adrenaline that rushed through me. I remember when-

"Elizabeth! Earth to Elizabeth!" Will waved his hand in front of my face.

"What? Huh? Yeah?" I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.

"You okay?" Will inquired.

"Yeah, sorry. My mind was wandering off and I stupidly followed it." I smiled.

"Well, after breakfast, come with me so we can get your schedule." Will informed.

"Sounds good." I answered cheerily and hastily bent down to get my suitcase. Will walked off while Luke turned around and fixed his bed.

I went to the bathroom and changed into a yellow spaghetti strap shirt and some denim shorts. Then I fixed my hair and applied my makeup. Another girl came in from Apollo's cabin and introduced herself.

"Hi! I'm Fiona Wright, but call me Fi. How do you like Camp Half-Blood so far?"

"I'm Elizabeth. I like Camp Half-Blood so far."

"It is so great! So, where are you from?"

"Well, I'm originally from Texas but I moved to Colorado a few years ago."  
"No way! I'm from Texas too! What part?"

"Houston."

"Cool! I'm from Dallas! I've lost my accent over the years of coming here to camp. What's your schedule?"

"I don't know. Will is going to get it for me after breakfast. I'm supposed to go with him."

"You lucky duck! I would give anything to have Will Hunter escort me somewhere! He's a babe!"

"He's very cute." I admitted bashfully.

"He seems to have taken a notice to you." She smirked. I looked at her quizzically. "Pfft. Don't think that the Aphrodite kids are the only ones that have noticed. And not only do you have Will Hunter, but you have Luke as well! That's a double whammy!"

"Please, I'm just friends with both of them." I insisted.

"I think both of them want to be more than friends with you… just saying."

"Well, I can't date either of them because I don't know if my father is Hermes or not." I said.

"Ooh, that sucks! Well, the summer solstice meeting is in a few weeks. You can ask Hermes then." Fi suggested.

"I will… and then I have to figure out which one I want to date which will be very hard."

"That will be tough. Do you lean towards one in particular?"

"That's just it. When I start leaning towards one of them, the other does something really sweet that makes the choice impossible again." I sighed.

"Don't you hate it when your love life is screwed up? I would know… my love life has been screwed up for the past two years."

"Oh? Why's that?" I asked, walking out of the bathroom with her and towards the dining pavilion.

"I like this guy but he likes my best friend and my best friend doesn't know and she's always trying to get him to ask me out and when we're alone, it's really awkward and I am just so confused." Fi threw her head back. I studied her. She was really pretty; she had sapphire blue eyes, long black hair, and a good build. However, she downplayed her looks. She wore an oversized t-shirt, no makeup, and I hate to say it but some really ugly shorts.

"Why don't I help you?" I offered.

"You would do that?" She looked me stunned.

"Of course. You're the first girl I've talked to and you seem really nice. You have to trust me though." I added.

"I do. Please help!" She pleaded.

"Come on!" We don't have a lot of time!" I grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the bathroom where I hurriedly applied makeup and then shoved her into a room where she could change into some of my clothes. I chose a sky blue tank top and some denim shorts from my suitcase and handed them to her. Once she was dressed, I quickly brushed her hair and styled it to near perfection. Fi looked at herself in the mirror.

"I… I look… amazing!" She exclaimed, examining her new look.

"I'm glad you like it! Now let's see if it works!" I laughed and we walked out of the bathroom like we had been friends forever. Both of us chatted until we reached the dining pavilion.

"Good luck." I whispered.

"I'll need it!" She agreed. I headed over to the Hermes table where Luke and Will had saved me a seat.

"Sorry it took me so long. Had a little, um, crisis." I explained, putting a small amount of food on my plate.

"What happened?" Will and Luke asked at the same time, then glaring at each other, then looking back at me.

"I helped a girl look really good so she could get this guy's attention that she likes. It's complicated and my grandmother's instinct kicked in." I shrugged.

"Wait, your grandmother?" Luke looked confused.

"My grandmother's Aphrodite apparently." I shrugged. Both boys' eyes widened.

"Oh, that would explain why you said her name last night." Luke simply said. The three of us walked to the fire and made offerings to the gods and walked back to the table. I picked up a yogurt and some berries along with a piece of bacon and a biscuit. I ate the yogurt, some of the bacon and a little bit of the biscuit and some of the fruit. I had never been that hungry on the morning for my whole life.

"Don't like the food?" Will asked, stuffing half of a biscuit into his mouth.

"Oh no, it's not that. It's just I'm not a big breakfast eater."

"Okay. Well, we should go talk to Chiron for your schedule." Will informed. I stood up and once again stumbled. Luke put a hand on my back and Will grabbed my arm. Why did I always have to fall when they were around? Gods, I need to smack myself in the head!

"Sorry, I'm not all that graceful in case you haven't noticed." I joked. Luke and Will laughed but it seemed to be forced. I walked with Will to talk to Chiron.

"Ah, Ms. Banks, there you are. Thank you, Mr. Hunter for bringing her to me. You may go." Chiron told Will, who looked a little angry but obeyed.

"I wanted to talk privately to you about your schedule. Who would you like to have in your classes? We have sword fighting, archery, track, pegasi riding, mountain climbing, and the forge."

"Don't put me in the forge unless you want me to burn Long Island down." I warned him throwing my hands up.

"Alright, no forge."

"I'm game for everything else. As for who I would like to have in my class, Luke is at the top, followed by Will and Fiona Wright." I answered.

"Very well. Let me see real quickly. If you want, you can be in all of Luke's classes."

"That's fine." I agreed.

"Alright then, here you go." Chiron handed me a piece of paper.

Pegasi Riding- 9-10:30

Sword Fighting- 10:30- 12

Lunch- 12- 12:30

Archery- 12:30- 2

Sports- 2- 3:30

Mountain Climbing- 3:30- 5

Free Period- 5- 5:30

"Great! Thank you!" I exclaimed. I bowed to Chiron and walked back to the table.

"What's your schedule?" Luke inquired casually while eating a piece of bacon.

"Here, you can look at it." I handed the piece of paper to him.

"What do you know? We have all our classes together!" Luke smiled happily. Will's face turned very red.

"Will, everything okay?" I questioned.

"Yeah, perfect. I have to go make a call. See you later." Will hurriedly stood up and left.

"What's put a twist in his toga?"I asked. Luke laughed which made my heart skip a beat.

"I think he's jealous I have you in all my classes." Luke grinned and with a look of confidence. "Come on, you'll love pegasi riding."

"Horses with wings, right?" I questioned.

"You got it."

"Okay, so I _wasn't_ hallucinating yesterday!"

"No, you weren't hallucinating." Luke laughed good-naturedly. "Come on, we'll be late."

Luke stood up and offered me his hand which I used. I got up without falling which I almost liked falling because Luke was there to catch me and I liked being held by him… Ah! Sorry! I guess that's my romantic side coming out. Forget what I just said! Anyway, we walked to the stables where there was a pretty girl waiting for us.

"Hi everyone, how are you?" She greeted. There was a murmur of mixed responses. "I'm Kelly Johansson. So, everyone, grab a partner and then when you have that done, come to me and I'll get you a pegasi."

There was a frenzy of people trying to find partners.

"Want to be my partner?" Luke inquired.

"Why not?" I shrugged. We went to Kelly and she handed us a pegasi named Ace.

"Hey Ace, how are you pretty boy?" I scratched Ace on the nose.

_I'm doing fine, what about you?_

"I'm doing well… wait, did you just talk to me?"

_No, you're just going crazy._

"So you can talk and you're smart-eleck."

"Elizabeth? Who are talking to?" Luke asked.

"Ace."

"You're talking to a horse?"

_I'm a pegasi bucko, watch what you say or I'll toss you off into Long Island Sound. _Ace retorted, which made me snicker.

"What?" Luke looked at me curiously.

"Ace says to watch what you say or else he'll toss you off into Long Island Sound." I repeated laughing.

"Great, I'm going to get tossed off into Long Island Sound… I'm counting on you to come save me." Luke claimed.

"Alright, I'll come save you. I would even if you weren't counting on me." I pointed out.

"That's good to know." Luke smiled.

_Do you want me to dump you two off in the water?_ Ace inquired.

_What?_

_You heard me._

_Um, you can choose. _I said.

_You got it pretty girl! Hey, why can you talk to me?_

_You're asking the wrong person._

Ace pawed the ground in anticipation of flying… and probably tossing off two riders.

"All right! So, my partner, Malcolm, will show you the basics while I narrate." Kelly announced. Malcolm hopped onto a pegasi named Guido and flew off while Kelly narrated. When Malcolm landed, he received applause from everyone.

"Now, everyone hop onto their pegasi and take off. Please try to hold on." Kelly said.

"Hey, I'll get on after you. I'm not that good with ho- I mean pegasi." Luke offered, looking at Ace wearily.

"Okay." I got onto Ace and was followed by Luke. Luke wrapped his arms around me and my heart pounded heart against my chest. I knew we were receiving some looks, even from Kelly and Malcolm, but I didn't care. Oh gods! What if Will saw? Gods that would be embarrassing! I pushed that thought out of my mind.

"Everyone ready?" Kelly shouted over the whinnies and chatter. There was a chorus of yeses and then Kelly hopped onto Guido and let us fly towards the cloudless blue sky. Ace shot up which made Luke hold on a little tighter to me.

"Heights…" he mumbled. Ace flew over Long Island Sound and the ride was exhilarating.

"This is amazing!" I shouted happily over the roaring of the wind. My back was tired from leaning forward so I leaned back a little.

"You can lean up against me if you want." Luke whispered. I leaned back and rested my head up against his shoulder while he rested his head on my shoulder.

**Luke's POV**

My heart was beating a rapid pace that probably wasn't healthy… I know it wasn't healthy. Elizabeth's hair was soft against my face and smelled like something sweet. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I held Elizabeth in my arms. I was mainly trying to prevent her from falling because she seemed to have a habit of that. Also, I was worried Ace was going to throw us off and I really didn't want that to happen.

"It's beautiful up here." Elizabeth sighed. I smiled at her and nodded. We were getting pretty far away from camp and I told Elizabeth this.

"I guess we should go back." Elizabeth murmured. She steered Ace back towards camp and we had only gone a few yards when a kamikaze bird flew in front of Ace, startling him so much that he reared in mid-air, making Elizabeth lose her grip and making us plummet to the water.

Thank gods we weren't that high up because I've heard that water feels like concrete when you hit it really hard. I completely submerged and struggled to the surface. I rubbed the water out of my eyes and looked for Elizabeth. She was nowhere to be seen.

"Elizabeth!" I yelled and she still did not resurface. I turned in circles and was about to dive underwater to find her when something… _someone_ jumped on me. I went under water for a brief second before resurfacing and finding Elizabeth in hysterics.

"That was so funny!" She laughed. I couldn't help but laugh as well, even if she had scared the crap out of me.

"You scared the hell out of me twice!" I declared. "First, I can't find you, and then you dunk me in the water."

"Sorry!" Elizabeth giggled, and it was the sweetest sound I've ever heard. I lunged at her and dunked her underwater. She thrashed and resurfaced with a crazed grin. She splashed some water at me which was like three feet tall. I don't know how she got so much water to come at me but she did. I returned the wave and she kicked off with amazing force. I dove after and propelled myself a little out of the water to get her. I grabbed her, both of us laughing and we went under water. Elizabeth squirmed in a half circle so she could face me and I could see her bright hazel eyes twinkling. Her hair floated around her but she looked right at home in the water. I pulled her in close to me, still underwater, and kissed her softly on the cheek. Elizabeth struggled out of my grasp and resurfaced; I followed. She was taking in deep gulps of air and I realized I was too.

"Luke, we need to head back to shore." Elizabeth acknowledged. Her laughing face was gone and I wondered if it was because I kissed her on the cheek.

"Yeah, okay." I agreed. We started swimming back to camp where we were greeted by our entire class, along with Chiron and Will (who looked furious!).

"What happened?" Chiron inquired seriously. Elizabeth spoke in a calm and soothing voice.

"Luke and I were heading back here on Ace. A bird flew in front of Ace and freaked him out, making him rear up. I lost my grip from surprise and Luke and I fell into the water. We were caught in a strong current and were washed farther away from shore, or else we would've been here a long time ago." Elizabeth explained. Chiron's expression softened and surprisingly so did Wills.

"Very well, I believe you. Why don't you two go get changed into some dry clothes? I don't want you two getting sick." Chiron smiled. Elizabeth left the scene swiftly and I followed.

"Elizabeth, wait up!" I said, jogging to catch up to her (because she didn't wait). "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah… no… I don't know." Elizabeth kicked a rock in frustration.

"Which one is it?"

"No, I'm not okay. Luke, what you did when we were in the water… that… that…" Elizabeth began, but then shook her head and continued walking.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I won't do it again." I apologized quietly.

"Luke, that's just it. I don't know if I ever don't want you to do it again. I…" Elizabeth sighed, putting her hand to her head. "I- I liked it. It's just that, well, I don't know who my father is and what if it's Hermes? I can't like you like that until I know Hermes isn't my father. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand." I answered. It was true; she could very well be my sister. "I promise I won't do anything like that until we know, okay?"

"Deal. Now come on, sword fighting is in a little while and I don't want to miss out at that!" Elizabeth grinned. I grinned back but deep down, I was really upset. Elizabeth ran towards the cabin. She couldn't be my sister! She just _couldn't_! It was impossible not to fall for her.

"Luke!" A guy shouted. I turned to see Will running to me.

"What's up Will?"

"Hey, where did Elizabeth go? Her bracelet came off and I need to return it to her." Will explained.

"I don't know. Why don't you give it to me and I'll give it to her when I see her at sword fighting."

"No, I'll do it." Will insisted much to my annoyance. "See ya."

I watched Will jog towards the cabins where he would probably talk with Elizabeth.

**Will's POV**

"Elizabeth?" I questioned, seeing her sitting on her bed, absent-mindedly brushing her hair. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." She murmured. It was obvious her mind was on something else.

"You don't look okay? What's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it. It's… complicated." She finally said.

"Okay, I'm here if you want to talk about it though, just so you know. Here, your bracelet. It fell off when you walked away." I handed her bracelet over to her, which she took willingly.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed and leaned over and hugged me. I returned the hug by putting my arm around her. Then something hit me.

"Did you take a shower?" I asked.

"No, why?" She looked at me curiously.

"You're… clean." I replied lamely.

"Oh yeah, some lady came in and cleaned me up by the wave of her hand. She was beautiful!"

"What did she look like?"

"I don't really know. Her looks kept changing."

"My gods."

"What?"

"You met Aphrodite… your grandmother."

"WHAT?" She yelped making me jump back from surprise.

"Yeah, you met Aphrodite. Come on, you'll be late for sword fighting and I know you don't want to miss that." I grinned.

"No, I don't." Elizabeth admitted, still in shock from meeting her grandmother. She followed me out of the cabin and towards the arena.

"Hey, you'll be my partner for sword fighting, okay?" I said.

"Okay, I didn't know you had sword fighting this period."

"I'm the teacher."

"Are you really?"

"Yep."

"Great, I'm going to get my butt kicked. Never have liked that."

"Don't worry I'll go easy on you."

"I seriously, highly doubt that."

"And you are correct." I chuckled. Elizabeth rolled her eyes with a smile. We reached the arena where I took my place as instructor.

**Luke's POV**

Will and Elizabeth came strolling down to the arena together. She was laughing and he was smiling with delight. I couldn't help but feel jealous of Will. It was obvious they enjoyed each other's company. Elizabeth saw me, waved cheerily and turned back to Will. Will patted Elizabeth on her back and told everyone to gather around him. He started explaining some things, had us practice some moves and we were soon partnered up. I was with Jamie and Elizabeth was with Will. It had to be because she was new. That was it.

Elizabeth looked like she was studying Will, looking like she was deciding on how she was going to take him down; her face had the same fierce expression on it that she had had when she fought the manticore. Three words: He. Was. Dead.

Will lunged and Elizabeth blocked. I had to turn to Jamie because she had lunged at me when I had been watching Will and Elizabeth, mainly Elizabeth.

Jamie and I fought for around ten minutes before I finally gained the upper hand, and knocked the sword out of her hand. We stood gulping in a few breaths before we realized that people were watching something. Jamie and I turned to see what everyone was looking at and saw that Elizabeth and Will were still fighting ferociously. Will made some fantastic moves, but Elizabeth made moves even more brilliant. Her hair was flash of golden light. Both of them were sweating when Elizabeth pulled the most brilliant move I have ever seen. She hit the hilt of his sword with hers; Will's sword twisted out of his hand and clattered to the ground. Elizabeth kicked him to the ground and held the point of her sword at his throat; Will looked at her with astonishment… he wasn't the only one. I even found myself with my mouth somewhat open. I lifted up my hands and started to clap; everyone followed my lead. She lowered her sword, held out her hand, and helped him up. Her face was flushed and she didn't look so good, but she smiled from embarrassment when everyone started clapping. I came up and patted her on the shoulder. She turned to look at me and grinned. My mind was telling me to stay away from her because I couldn't handle being around her but my heart was telling me it would work out, that I just had to wait.

"Congratulations!" I yelled. She grinned and turned back to Will who had been trying to get her attention.

"That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!" Will shouted. Chiron came galloping out of nowhere.

"What's the celebration for?" Chiron inquired, eyeing Elizabeth with curious eyes.

"Sir! It's unbelievable! She just beat Will at sword-fighting!" Someone shouted.

"Is that so?" Chiron stroked his beard. "Very interesting."

"Well, we better get going to lunch." Will patted Elizabeth on the back again. Everyone dispersed and headed to lunch where we had burgers and fries that tasted wonderfully. Elizabeth looked extremely tired from sword fighting but she seemed better once she drank some water. In fact, she dumped a water bottle on her head and it looked so good that I did it too.

Archery was fun; Elizabeth had pretty decent aim. Sports class was great! Then again, I love sports, especially football and soccer. Elizabeth didn't enjoy it so much, but she did once we started playing football. The climbing the rock with lava pouring down it was next and Elizabeth was fairly good at it, although she fell once or twice and I had to catch her (which I really didn't mind). Our last period was free period and we could do whatever we wanted. Elizabeth went to the cabin, saying she was going to make herself look better. Dinner came and went, same with the campfire sing-along. All of Hermes cabin stumbled into their beds and fell asleep.


	5. CHP 5: The Dream

**Okey-doke, so here's the fifth chapter (obviously) and hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 5: The Dream**

**Elizabeth's POV**

The weeks at camp went by quickly and I made many new friends. Fi turned out to be my best friend; I talked to her every day about well, everything. By far, my favorite activity was sword fighting. I had come in May and it was now June 20. I had been mainly sword fighting against Will and had won some more times and the times I lost only made me have the urge to beat him more. I was at the table for breakfast sitting between Luke and Will (as usual) but Luke and I hadn't talked as much to each other, not since a few weeks ago when he had kissed me underwater. I admit that it had crossed my mind every day since then without failure. It was driving me insane that I wasn't talking to him as much. Chiron broke through my thoughts that were usually barricaded with cement and brick walls with soundproof glass with bullets that shot at anyone that interrupted me; somehow, Chiron was always able to break through that barricade.

"Everyone! As you know, tomorrow is the summer solstice and the gods will be meeting. It is an occasion we attend to every year and will be doing so once again. I am reminding you of the dress code. Dress nicely! No jeans or tee-shirts or sandals! If any of you disobey the rules, I will pick a different outfit for you, and it is not one that you want. Is that clear?" Chiron announced, his eyes scanning over everyone, his eyes lingering over Connor and Travis for a few seconds; there was a murmur of agreement. "Very good, you may finish eating."

"What's Olympus like?" I asked dreamily to no one in particular, just to the person who answered first.

"You'll have to wait and see." Will smiled, which made me scowl. When the three of were done, we headed to our classes. I went pegasi riding, beat Will and Jamie (much to my pleasure) at sword fighting, got a few bulls-eyes in archery, made a touchdown in football in sports, and scaled the mountain for the millionth time.

It was finally time for my free period and I raced back to the cabin. I was the only person in there as I walked over to my suitcase. The suitcase that had the dress I was looking for was wedged between the floor and the bed and it was a struggle to get it out. With one giant tug, the suitcase came flying towards me and I had to duck out of the way before I got hit in the head by a deadly forty-five pound suitcase. I stood up, brushed the dust off my shorts (and me), and heaved my suitcase onto the end of my bed. Opening up the suitcase, I dug through it, pulling out dresses. I was searching for one in specific. It was a white dress with a red belt. It made my waist look really small (which I loved!) and some beige-silver stilettos (yes, I'm fourteen and I can walk in stilettos… and run!).

"What are you doing?" Will asked.

"I'm attempting to find my outfit for tomorrow… it ain't goin' so hot." I answered, with my Texas twang suddenly coming out.

"Did I just here a southern accent?" Will grinned.

"Yeeesss." I sighed.

"I like it. I'm from Louisiana and my accent comes back every once in a while. What state?"

"Texas."

"Home of the best barbecue. Louisiana has the best Cajun though."

"Agreed." I smiled turning back to my suitcase. "Now where in the Hades is that outfit?"

"Did your parents send it?"

"Yeah, I already asked them." I replied. "Ah! I found one shoe! … Now where is the other one? And how hard is it to find a dress?"

"Well, obviously it is for you." Will teased. I smacked him on the arm and then continued searching through the bottomless suitcase.

"Ah! The other shoe!" I exclaimed, holding up the stiletto.

"You're going to wear those?" Will raised an eyebrow at me.

"You know it. I love them! They make me so tall!" I smiled.

"Oh gods, you're already tall enough!" Will laughed.

"I'm not tall enough for me!" I answered back.

"Let's see how tall you are in them." Will said. I sat down on the bed and put them on, secretly praising myself for remembering to shave my legs. I put on the shoes and stood up.

"Well, how do they look?" I questioned, looking down at my feet and my perfectly painted toenails. Will shuffled closer until he was a foot away from me.

"You look beautiful." He praised, which made me blush.

"Don't you think you would have a better view farther away?"

"No, you don't need stilettos or a pretty dress to make you beautiful." Will answered, moving closer to me.

_Well hell_ I thought.

"Will, move back, you're making me claustrophobic." I chuckled nervously. To put it plainly: he didn't. Instead, he moved closer to me. I backed up and almost fell onto my bed but Will caught me with a gentle hand.

"Will, what are you doing?" I asked, putting my hands on his chest to push him away from me. Damn it, he was too strong. He pulled me into him and kissed me on the lips. Okay, I'll admit it, I enjoyed it. So much that I kissed back until I finally told myself that I had to stop.

"Will, enough." I gasped. He was still kissing me so I turned my neck, which is when he stopped. He looked at me with shock in his eyes and hurriedly backed away.

"Elizabeth, I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me!" He shook his head in disbelief. My head was spinning. How could I have just done that? For a quick moment, I wished it had been Luke who had kissed me.

"It- it's okay. No, it's not. Oh hell, I don't know." I mumbled. Will stayed a good distance from me and he looked pained.

"Elizabeth, I am so sorry. I… I don't know what came over me." Will swayed where he was, still in shock. "I better go."

Will quickly left the room much to my relief and I took off my shoes, lay down on my bed, closed my eyes and the thoughts of Will kissing me swirled through my mind.

"Elizabeth?" Luke tapped me on the shoulder.

_Ah Hell._ I thought. I knew his voice from anywhere, that sweet, kind, sexy voice of his that could either make you love him or want to smack him. This time, it was the love one and I opened my eyes.

"You look awful." He commented.

"Thanks." I grumbled.

"No, it's not that, it's that you look like you're going to be sick, that kind of awful." Luke explained. His blue eyes were staring at me and I suddenly just wanted to be in his arms again.

"I feel like it." I murmured.

"Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?" Luke inquired worryingly.

"No, I'll be okay. I just have a migraine."

"Okay, well, I'll stay with you to make sure you're okay." Luke declared. I smiled weakly at him and patted his hand. I turned over on my side and closed my eyes. Luke patted me on the shoulder.

"I'll wake you up for dinner." Luke whispered. I murmured okay. Luke, being the sweetheart he is, lifted my suitcase off my bed and covered me up. I fell asleep into a deep sleep.

**Luke's POV**

Elizabeth fell asleep almost as soon as I covered her up. I was worried about her. Will had come out of there looking the same way. I had a feeling it had to do with Will, one of those gut feelings, you know?

The cabin started filling in with campers coming to get ready before dinner, including Will. He glanced over at Elizabeth with a sad look, and then realizing I saw him, he turned away. Travis and Connor had mischievous looks on their faces and I didn't need to know them that that meant they were up to no good.

"You better wake her up." Someone said.

"I'll try." I replied. I got up and walked over to her. I shook her gently. "Hey, Elizabeth, wake up."

She didn't stir so I shook her a little harder.

"Elizabeth? Wake up, it's time for dinner." I repeated and she still didn't move. The conch sounded in the distance to let the campers know it was time for dinner. Everyone except for Will and me lined up.

"Hey, Hannah, lead the line! Luke and I are going to stay here for a few minutes." Will ordered. The Hannah girl nodded and led the cabin outside.

"Maybe we should just let her sleep, and save some food for her." Will suggested, kneelilng down on the other side of the bed.

"Yeah, I agree. Hey, do you know what's wrong?"

"No." Will answered a little too quickly.

"Bull, what happened?"

"We had an argument." Will replied shortly. He didn't say anymore and I didn't ask anymore because I didn't want to know what happened.

"No." Elizabeth murmured defiantly. Will and I looked down at her confusedly.

"Elizabeth?" Will whispered.

"No!" Elizabeth said more clearly. She started twitching and her breathing was starting to become faster. I was confused and worried at the same time and by the looks of it so was Will.

"She's having a nightmare." Will simply stated.

"We need to wake her up." I said and Will nodded in reply. Before we could say anything, Elizabeth thrashed violently in her bed and made a sob-like sound all the while repeating no.

"Elizabeth! You need to wake up!" I demanded firmly but gently.

"H-he c-can't be d-d-dead." Elizabeth sobbed. Will and I looked at each other with surprised looks. I knew we were both thinking the same thing: we needed Chiron. Her face was pained and sweat glistened on her forehead. She was taking in deep gulps of air and whimpering as well.

"Elizabeth, you're okay." Will said gently.

"No, I'm not!" She cried.

"Will! Go get Chiron!" I ordered. Will didn't need to be told, he was already out the door.

**Will's POV**

I raced over to the dining pavilion and slowed down so I wouldn't cause a scene. I walked up a little breathlessly to the where Chiron was sitting. He glanced towards me and he must have seen my face because he immediately stood up and walked over to me.

"Will my boy, I need to talk to you. Is the Hermes cabin okay?" Chiron inquired.

"Yes sir." I agreed and added quietly, "Quickly."

**Luke's POV**

Elizabeth flew up onto her elbows, her eyes wide with fear. She didn't seem to see me and was whimpering.

"Elizabeth?" I leaned towards her. Elizabeth jumped violently. "Easy, it's just me."

She looked at me with panic written all over her face. Her breaths were starting to become choked back sobs.

"Come here." I told her. She sat up willingly and leaned towards me. I wrapped my arms around her and well, I didn't really know what to do. All I knew is that she needed me, so I told her everything was going to be okay. Elizabeth was shaking and I pulled her in closer to me; she started crying quietly. Elizabeth was a strong person, and it was hard to scare her, let alone this badly. I couldn't imagine what had scared her so much and I personally wanted to know so I could comfort her. I heard the door open and turned my head to find Will with Chiron right behind him.

**Will's POV**

Elizabeth was being held by Luke, and I felt a twinge of jealousy. I then chided myself for being so selfish when Elizabeth was so distraught.

"What happened?" Chiron inquired gravely.

"We don't know. She fell asleep and we tried to wake her. We were deciding to let her sleep and just save some food for her when she started to say no over and over again, each time more loudly. Then she started to thrash around and her breaths quickened." I explained.

"Luke, when did she wake up?"

"Just a couple of minutes ago." Luke answered, still holding Elizabeth firmly, who was still sobbing quietly. "She was terrified when she woke up and she didn't even see me when she woke up, too. She only realized I was here when I said her name and I scared the Hades out of her. She was shaking too."

"I see. Elizabeth? Can you hear me?" Chiron asked gently. Elizabeth peeked out from under Luke's chin and her eyes were red from crying. "What happened?"

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she shook her vigorously.

"Elizabeth, please tell me what you saw." Chiron requested.

"No." I wouldn't have thought she said that if I hadn't seen her lips move. The answer was short but to the point. Chiron didn't push her either. Her gaze shifted towards me and her look made it plain that she had just realized I was there.

"Hey Elizabeth." I smiled, sitting down on the bed. She tore herself from Luke's grip and hugged me fiercely. I was taken aback but I returned the hug.

"My guess is that she had a dream about one of you." Chiron guessed. Her tears were making my shirt damp but I didn't care, I just knew that she was in my arms, as if she had no recollection of thirty minutes ago.

**Hope you enjoyed the fifth chapter, it was fun to write! Now, I had this crazy idea to maybe draw the characters, obviously Elizabeth, Luke, Will, Fi, Jamie. I would also draw any characters you recommend. If you have any idea on whom else I should draw, let me know in a review. If I can, I will try to find a way to post them on FanFiction. If I can't draw them, well, then forget the whole idea I just mentioned! :)**


	6. CHP 6: Mount Olympus

**Hey, again, it's kind of long (Sorry, I'm on a roll) and just so you know, I'm still thinking of drawing the characters and I won't be able to decide if you don't help me! So please review! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP!**

Chapter 6: Mount Olympus

Elizabeth had been really shaken up after that dream and pretty much didn't eat the whole night. Chiron had her in the infirmary and Luke and I bugged him to the end of the world to let us stay with her. He wouldn't give in to us no matter how hard we tried… not saying that stopped us from trying. When everyone had fallen asleep (Chiron had told everyone that asked that Elizabeth simply had the stomach flu), Luke and I silently and swiftly ran to the infirmary at midnight, not caring that we had to wake up at seven in the morning. Chiron knew what we were trying to do though because Argus was stationed at the front of the door.

"Can we go in?" I inquired. Argus predictably shook his head.

"Please? We just need to see that she's okay." Luke begged. He was shifting from foot to foot, obviously anxious to see Elizabeth. Argus eyed us with his hundred of eyes and let out a deep long sigh. He held up his hand which signaled we had five minutes.

"Thank you Argus!" I exclaimed quietly. Luke repeated what I said and we bolted in the door and to Elizabeth's bed. Fi was sitting next to her with her head to the side. Fi was asleep and so was Elizabeth. Luke and I crept over to Elizabeth's bed.

"Hey Elizabeth, um, I don't know if you can hear me but Will and I just came here to check on you." Luke whispered. Elizabeth stirred and her face cracked a small smile.

"Hey, guys." She spoke so quietly I barely heard her. Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open and Luke and I smiled at her, both of us kneeling down.

"How do you feel?" I questioned.

"I feel fine, just hungry." Elizabeth replied, her stomach growling in agreement. Luke and I chuckled in amusement which made Elizabeth give us reproachful looks.

"I'll get you something." I told her, standing up. I walked over to the cupboard and pulled out some saltine crackers, peanut butter, a butter knife, and a paper plate. I brought the snack over to Elizabeth who took it gratefully out of my hands. She spread the peanut butter on the crackers and devoured almost a whole package in less than two minutes. Once she slowed down, she offered some to Luke and me. I told her I was fine but Luke shrugged and accepted her offer.

"Gods, you're so fiiinee." Fi murmured. We all looked at her and her eyes were closed and tried to suppress our laughter.

"Fi? Honey, wake up." Elizabeth shook her best friend awake.

"What? What happened? I didn't do it!" Fi said immediately when she woke up. She looked at Luke, then at me, and I could've sworn she blushed.

"Hey Fi." I greeted her.

"Hi Will." She replied quietly.

"So who did you say was _fiiiine_ in your dream?" Elizabeth inquired with a grin. Fi turned scarlet and said she didn't know, which I had a sneaking suspicion wasn't the truth.

"We better get going. Our five minutes is up." I acknowledged, seeing Argus poking his head through the door, motioning that our time was up.

"Okay, thanks for coming you guys." Elizabeth smiled and then added, "Sorry if I scared you earlier."

"We're just glad you're okay. You did scare us though." Luke spoke softly to her. "Good night Elizabeth, see you in the morning."

"Good night Elizabeth, see you in the morning."

"Alright, good night you two."

Luke and I headed out of the infirmary and to back to the cabin where we both fell asleep very quickly.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I woke up early in the morning. I thought it was around six but I was wrong, it was actually five. I couldn't fall back asleep so I woke up Fi, told her I was going back to my cabin to get stuff to take a shower. Fi nodded, yawned and stood up with me. We walked past Argus who stopped us.

"I'm going back to the cabin to take a shower. I feel perfectly fine and besides, I can't fall back asleep. Trust me; I've tried for the last half hour." I explained to him. Argus finally nodded and Fi and I walked to our separate cabins.

Fi went to the Apollo cabin while I quietly slipped into the Hermes cabin. I tiptoed across the floor and as quietly as I could, retrieved my suitcase from under the bed, unzipped it, pulled out my shampoo, conditioner, soap, and razor and then put the suitcase back under the bed. Hopefully the harpies wouldn't stop me from taking a shower. Harpies are these really ugly creatures that are like half chicken and half woman and they fly, but they're very… plump, and they don't move very fast and it's easy to outrun them.

Thankfully, they didn't catch me and I was able to take a nice, hot shower. The shower refreshed me and I was able to clear my thoughts. I had no clue what to do about Luke and Will. I liked them both… a lot! They were both so sweet and funny and smart and protective and in a nutshell, were everything a girl wanted in a guy. Gods, what was I going to do? I was related to freaking Aphrodite! Wasn't I supposed to be good at this kind of thing? Letting out a big sigh, I headed over to the counter, got dressed, and blow dried my hair. After that was done, I headed to the Hermes cabin, put my stuff under my bed and lay down in my bed. Closing my eyes, I imagined what Olympus was like.

_How is camp? _A stranger's voice asked.

_Who in the name of Hades are you? You're not the person who gave me that nightmare are you? Because if you are, I'm going to find out who you are, track you down and punch your lights out and teach you that you should never mess with a really mad demigod related to Aphrodite! _I warned. The voice laughed much to my annoyance.

_I am not the person who gave you the nightmare you are talking about; I would never do that to my daughter._ What did he just say?

_F-Father?_ I stammered.

_Hello daughter._

_Who are you?_

_I can't tell you, not yet. You shall learn when the time comes. If I tell you now, your life will be in peril._

_What do you mean?_

_My family will hunt you down and well…_

_They'll try to kill me?_

…_Yes. Of course, they would have to go through me, but I really don't want it to be eleven against one. Well, you're grandmother would join us so it would really be ten to two, but still, the odds wouldn't be in favor of us._

_Hey, I would fight too, so it would be three against ten, and I think a few of my friends would join the fight too. Fi, Luke, Will, they would all join. So it would really be six against ten and they are all fantastic fighters!_

_I hear you're a good fighter yourself. I heard you already defeated your instructor…and more than once I might add._

_Yes._

_Good, you take on after me._

_Will I see you tomorrow?_

Silence.

_Father?_ I asked.

_Yes._

_Father, just tell me one thing. Are you Hermes?_

_What? No, why?_

_No reason._

_You definitely take on after your grandmother. This has something to do with two guys does it not?_

_Yeeeaaaahhh._

_I should've known. Would these boys perhaps be sons of Hermes?_

_Yeeeaaaahhh._

_Well, I can assure you I'm not Hermes._

_No offense to Hermes, but thank gods! I really like these guys… and I'm not sure my father wants to hear this._

_I do want to know so I can tell you if I approve of the boy. Now who is it?_

_Their names are Luke and Will Hunter. I'm not sure what Luke's last name is. He's never told me._

_His last name is Luke Castellan. I remember him because his mother had an unfortunate incident. She had the gift of the Sight, and she tried to become the oracle and it went all wrong, and that's a bit of an understatement. Don't tell Luke that though, promise?_

_I promise. Poor Luke._

_Yes, I feel very bad for young Luke. He is a good boy. Whichever one you choose, I approve of both, even if Will is a little old for you._

_Thanks father._

_No problem. I better go before Zeus finds out. He tends to be a little touchy. Okay, very, very irritable and annoying. He would've been good at being the god of drama. Goodbye daughter and good luck with the guys._

_Thanks father._

I opened my eyes and realized I had turned over.

"Elizabeth?" I turned my head and saw Luke rubbing his eyes.

"Hey Luke."

"When did you get here?"

"Around six I think. I'm not quite sure."

"Oh, how you feeling?"

"Better now that I took a shower."

"Good. Gods, I'm so tired."

"Want to take a walk?"

"Um, sure. I thought… I didn't think you would ever want to be alone with me after…" Luke stopped and looked down. I got out of my bed and walked over to him. Grabbing his hand, I said, "Come on. I want to talk to you."

Luke gave me a quizzical look but followed me, still holding my hand. We headed into the forest like Hansel and Gretel.

"So, what did you want talk to me about?" Luke questioned casually.

"I just wanted to talk to you. I know practically nothing about you except that you're amazingly sweet and you are incredible at sword fighting!"

"Thanks." Luke grinned at the ego boost I had just given him.

"So, when's your birthday?"

"January 15."

"That's my grandfather's birthday."

"No kidding!" Luke laughed. "When's your birthday?"

"February 2."

"Groundhogs day!"

"Yeah, most people forget that though." I admitted.

"Well, I think that is really cool." Luke gave my hand a squeeze and I felt all fluttery inside. "So, what's Colorado like?"

"Well, in the summer, it's gorgeous! It's usually the perfect temperature. Then in the winter, it's super cold, and by cold, I mean negative ten with a minus twenty wind chill. Yeah, and the boys wear shorts to school. All. Year. Round."

"Do they really? I may be from Connecticut, but I don't think they even do that there, or at least not that extreme." Luke grinned as I laughed.

"What's it like in Connecticut?"

"It's okay. It's pretty in the fall and the winter can be brutal and the summer is usually alright. What's your home like?" Luke inquired.

"My parents are great, my mom is the daughter of Aphrodite, I have two golden retrievers, four cats, and I live in the woods. There's actually not much to tell. What about you?" I replied. Luke tensed and I knew I hit a spot he wasn't comfortable talking about. "Sorry, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"No, it's okay. Um, just don't tell anyone, okay?"

"I promise."

"My mom, she… I don't know why she was the way she was but it scared me. I would hide from her when it happened. Her eyes would glow green and she would start shaking me and after the first time, whenever she was about to have a fit, I would run and hide in the closet. I would hide in there for an hour." Luke explained, looking distant. I didn't say anything.

"I'm so sorry." I finally said.

"It's okay. I ran away when I was seven, found another half-blood named Thalia, and then we traveled together, found Annabeth, who had also run away, just like me and Thalia. After that, the three of us stayed together and then Grover found us, lead us to camp, and Thalia died defending Annabeth, Grover and me from the monsters that were chasing us. She died and her father turned her into that pine tree up on the hill. It's why the hill is named Half-Blood Hill. Her spirit protects the camp from monsters entering." Luke finished with a sad look on his face. I gave his hand a squeeze and he looked at me with a sad smile.

We walked along in silence, hand in hand.

"Luke?"

"Hmm?"

"What's Olympus like?"

"You'll have to find out for yourself. Speaking of, we should head back and start getting ready." Luke suddenly remembered.

"Yeah, I guess so." I agreed.

"Hey, and Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to let you know that-"

"There you guys are! I've been looking all over for you!" Will exclaimed. He saw Luke's hand intertwined with mine and his happy face turned expressionless.

"Sorry, neither of us could sleep, so we took a walk." I simply said. "Come on, we need to get ready for today."

Luke, Will, and I walked back to the cabin in an awkward silence. I was glad to reach the cabin and was even happier when it was empty. I headed over to my suitcase but stopped when I saw my dress on my bed.

"How did that get there?" I murmured. I ignored the fact that my dress had suddenly decided to show up and grabbed it, my shoes, my curling iron, and my makeup bag before heading to the bathroom. I put on my makeup, put on my dress, curled my hair into soft ringlets, sprayed some hair spray in them (and by some I mean half a can) and then put on my shoes. I then sprayed myself with some Pure Seduction perfume from Victoria's Secret. Gods I love that store! I looked at myself in the mirror when someone whistled high to low. Fi was right behind me grinning.

"You look like a goddess yourself." She complimented. "I wish I could make myself look as good."

"Come here." I grabbed her, and went to work. I applied makeup, curled her hair, and sprayed her with some perfume. "There you go."

"Thank you! Why do you always do that?"

"Because you're my best friend."

"Oh gods." Jamie muttered. I ignored her.

"Come on, let's go." I headed out the door with Fi. We were talking and both of us ran straight into Luke and Will.

"Sorry!" Fi and I apologized simultaneously.

"No, our bad." Luke answered. Fi was seriously blushing and I realized it was because of Will.

"Hey, why don't we stay as a group when we go to Olympus? Fi, would you stay here with Will and Luke while I go to the cabin real quick?"

"Uh, sure." Fi knew what I was doing and gave me a grateful smile.

**Luke's POV**

Elizabeth went to the cabin and I stood with Will and Fi.

"So Fi, how are you?" Will asked.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm good." Will replied. "Hey, uh, do you want to be my partner for Olympus?"

"Sure!" Fi agreed happily. Elizabeth came out with earrings and a necklace. She put in the earrings and attempted to put on the necklace while walking. She sighed in frustration and looked at me.

"Luke, could you put this on please?"

"Yeah." I replied. She walked over and handed me the necklace. Elizabeth turned around and moved her hair. I put the necklace around her, fastened the clasp, and pulled her soft hair back.

"Thanks." She smiled.

"No problem, hey, would you like to be my partner for Olympus?" I asked. She smiled and looked even more beautiful than she already did, which I didn't think was possible. And, if you're a guy reading this and you think I'm whipped, I have news for you. I am. And I really don't care what you say about me. Okay? Good.

"I would love to." She said.

"Great!" I exclaimed, holding out my arm. Elizabeth looped her arm through it and we headed to the entrance of Camp Half-Blood where vans would be taking us to the Empire State building, go up and elevator with awful music, and then arrive at Olympus. Elizabeth was shifting from foot to foot.

"Nervous?" I looked at her.

"No, yes, that and anxious." She answered. "I'm also cold."

"Here, have my jacket." I took off my suit jacket and handed it to her.

"Thanks." Elizabeth took the jacket gratefully.

"Has everyone got their partners?" Chiron yelled. There was a chorus of yeses and we were loaded into five vans. There were sixty of us so there were twelve in each bus. We were able to get on the bus with Will and Fi who were in a deep conversation that made no sense to anyone but them. I think it was about Dumbledore and Magnus Bane (from _The Mortal Instruments_ series) and who would win the battle. Strange. We went to the very back and Elizabeth took the aisle seat and Fi took the one opposite to her. They chatted for a while before Elizabeth yawned and leaned back and closed her eyes.

"If you need a pillow, you can use my shoulder." I offered. Elizabeth smiled and without opening her eyes, put her head on my shoulder, my jacket still around her. She looped her arm with mine and held onto it. I looked at her and she was already fast asleep.

"She's tired isn't she?" Will pointed out.

"Oh no, she's not tired at all." I replied sarcastically. Will smirked at me.

"She had another nightmare last night, but she wasn't screaming…Chiron told me." Fi added quietly, noticing the expression on my face.

"Oh, that explains it." I nodded. "I think I'm going to crash too. I woke up too early."

I rested head against the window and fell asleep.

I woke up when the van stopped. We were at Olympus.

"Elizabeth, wake up. We're here." I gently shook her arm and realized this was like the fifth time I had to wake her up. She sure did like to sleep. Elizabeth woke up surprisingly easy which was a first.

"Where's cookie monster?" She mumbled.

"Uh, back at Sesame Street?" I replied.

"I need to get my cookie back from him." She muttered and I realized she wasn't that awake so I shook her a little harder.

"What?" Her eyes widened and I knew she was awake.

"Cookie Monster took your cookie." I chuckled. Elizabeth looked at me sheepishly.

"How did you know?"

"You were talking about it."

"Ah, whoops."

"Don't worry, I found it very amusing." I grinned. She nudged me and stood up with me. We were the last to get off of the van.

"Here." She handed me my jacket.

"You're good now?"

"Yeah, much better." Elizabeth smiled. Together we walked to the elevator that would take us up to Olympus. We were in the last group to go up. Our turn finally came and we got on(and very squished might I add). Elizabeth and I were in the corner. She was leaning up against me with her hands in mine. Her hair was soft and smelled like, actually, I don't know, it just smelled really good.

"I'm cold again." She murmured. I wrapped my arms around her and rubbed my hands on her arms. She truly was freezing. Goose bumps appeared on her arms and she was shivering.

"What music is this? It's awful." She laughed quietly.

"I ask myself that every time I come here. Trust me; this is actually better than most days." I chuckled.

"You would think that they could have better music. I mean their gods." Elizabeth whispered to me. The elevator stopped the doors opened, revealing Mount Olympus.

"Oh. My. Gods," Elizabeth breathed her eyes wide in shock. "It's even better than I imagined."


	7. CHP 7: I'm Stalked by a Hot God

**Okay, so, obviously, this is chapter seven. Just so you know, I completely screwed up on the pictures of the characters so I think I might just find something online that I can create them. Thought I would let you know (I told you, I suck at drawing!).**

Chapter 7: I'm Stalked by a Hot God

**Elizabeth's POV**

Mount Olympus was incredible! It was magnificent! It was pretty much the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It was a city of marble right above New York City. How in the world could the people not see it? It was impossible to miss. It was made of natural colored marble and there were walkways that led to plazas that had whatever you wanted: food, drinks, necklaces, and hero lunchboxes. Pretty much, you name it, they had it.

"You like it?" Luke asked.

"Do I like it?" I snorted. "No I don't like it."

Luke looked at me with surprise.

"I love it!" I smiled. Luke chuckled and looped his arm through mine. Chiron led us through the crowds of people.

"Minor gods." Luke whispered to me. "They live on Olympus if they want."

We came up to the biggest place on Olympus: The palace. My legs started shaking and I was glad Luke was there to support me.

"Don't worry. Just don't speak and they will love you. Of course, if they do talk to you, talk back." Luke said.

"It's not that. It's that my father is in there." I answered softly. Luke paled a little. The doors opened and I caught my breath. The room, well it's not really a room. It makes Grand Central Station look like a broom closet. Then there were the gods, sitting in a U-shape, just like the cabins. Zeus was in the middle along with Hera at his right. On Zeus' left were Poseidon, Ares, Apollo, Hephaestus and Hermes. On Hera's right were Demeter, Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Dionysus. Zeus was in a pin-striped suit and was sitting very businesslike in his "throne." Poseidon was my favorite because he was sitting casually in a fisherman's chair with his trident where the fishing rod would go. His trident glowed at the tip of the points with obvious power. I had a sudden desire to go over and grab and blast Jamie away from Luke because she was trying to talk to him. Instead I just ignored her because she was trying to get to me. I don't know what I had ever done to her but she hated me, and therefore I hated her. Ares was digging dirt out of his fingernail with his spear. Apollo was listening to his IPod and he looked up at me. He smiled dazzlingly which made me blush furiously. He was hot. Not because he was the sun god either. Hephaestus was leaning back in a Lazy Boy recliner. Then there was Luke's father, and I was struck by the resemblance. It was startling. I mean, yes I know they are father and son, but none of Hermes' other kids looked like him as much as Luke did. Luke and his father could've said they were twins… and pulled it off. Hermes looked over at me and his blue eyes reminded me so much of Luke that I felt my knees shake. His eyes flitted to his son and I could've sworn I saw a look of pain in his eyes. No, I didn't swear, I know. It was obvious. Hermes eyes looked back to me and I smiled at him and was surprised that he returned the smile.

Demeter was in a chair made of woven vines and she was wearing a garland. She seemed very stuck up but maybe that was just how she looked… however, I doubted it. Athena was looking over us critically. Her eyes lingered over me for a few seconds which kind of scared me. Her steely cold gray eyes bored into me and I knew she was sizing me up. Artemis didn't even look at the boys, just the girls. She was probably deciding on which girls would make good Huntresses. Dionysus was being his usual lazy self and that didn't really surprise me. Then there was Aphrodite, my grandmother. She was stunning. Her eyes changed color and so did her hair, or at least that's what it seemed like. Her eyes lingered over everyone (especially over the guys) but stopped when they fell on me.

"Elizabeth!" Aphrodite said in a smooth voice. Everyone stopped talking, even the gods, and looked at me, which was kind of uncomfortable. Aphrodite walked gracefully over to me and hugged me. "My darling, granddaughter! My, how much you look like your mother. You are absolutely beautiful!"

"Uh, thank you, grandmother." I replied slowly.

"Aphrodite," Apollo called, standing up and walking over to me. "You're embarrassing her. Look how red she is!"

Much to Luke's annoyance that I very clearly saw, Apollo looped his arm through mine.

"More like you like her Apollo, and you want to be close to her so you came over here to defend her, even if she was a little embarrassed." Aphrodite answered sweetly, but with a fiery edge to it.

"Yes, I do like her. She is very nice. I would know." Apollo grinned and transformed into a little boy that had come to one of my schools and I had shown him around the school.

"You-you… I remember you!" I exclaimed.

"Of course you do!" Apollo agreed.

"Apollo, stop harassing the girl." Zeus commanded.

"She is not a _girl_, she is _Elizabeth_. Spell it: E-L-I-Z-A-B-" Apollo started with a grin.

"Apollo! Leave _Elizabeth_ alone!" Zeus ordered, his eyes sparkling and I swear I saw little mini thunderstorms in them. Zeus turned to me and I grabbed Luke's hand.

"I'm quite sorry for his behavior." Zeus apologized, but it didn't sound very sincere.

"It's fine." I replied. Zeus studied me before clapping his hands.

"Welcome children of the gods! We are so happy to see you again! Let the breakfast feast begin!" Zeus clapped his hands and a banquet table appeared out of nowhere. Now that was seriously cool!

"Come on, let's sit down." Luke said, pulling me towards two empty chairs that Fi and Will were saving for us. We took the seats and dug in. The food was amazing! They had pancakes with blueberries, strawberries, bananas, raspberries, and blackberries along with whip cream and maple syrup, perfect bacon which I devoured, yogurt, omelets, ham, Canadian bacon, and so much more. I had a pancake with strawberry and bananas and whip cream, some bacon, some Canadian bacon, an omelet, and Sunny D as the drink. How I was able to eat all that, I'm not sure.

"When you are done, you may go explore Olympus. Please do not cause any trouble or fall over the railings because that would not be good." Zeus announced. Who said that at the end of an announcement?

"Hey Luke, I'm going to go walk around, okay?" I said.

"I'll come, I'm done." Luke stood up and we walked out of the crowded "room."

We walked along in a comfortable silence as I walked around and marveled at the sights.

"Hey Luke! Will needs your help finding Connor and Travis!" Someone yelled.

"Great." Luke muttered. "Will you be okay if I leave?"

"I'll be fine." I assured him and watched him leave. I turned around and found Apollo standing in front of me. "What the-?"

"That's no way to greet a god now is it?" Apollo grinned.

"Sorry Lord Apollo." I curtsied to him.

"I was joking Elizabeth. Come on, I'll show you around Olympus." Apollo grabbed my hand and I felt a shock go through my arm. Apollo showed me around the markets and the ones that had jewelry immediately caught my attention. I didn't bring any money with me which I was quite upset about because there were some things there that I did not want to leave without. Then there was the coolest place that had all these guitars, and who I am guessing was a minor god was playing the most beautiful songs I had ever heard.

"It's _Enchanted_, by Taylor Swift." Apollo told me.

"But she hasn't made that song yet."

"She hasn't, but she will in the future." Apollo replied with a smile.

We were nearing the end of Olympus where there was a fountain. It sprayed merrily and it was relaxing. I sat down on the edge of the fountain because to tell you the truth, my feet were killing me.

"Are you okay?" Apollo inquired.

"My feet hurt."

"Here, let me see them." Apollo took off my shoes and turned my feet gently in his hands. Then he murmured some things that I couldn't even begin to understand. My feet suddenly felt better and I looked at him in awe.

"I forgot you're also the god of medicine." I smiled. Apollo, put my shoes back and they felt fine. I stood up and so did Apollo. "I should go find Luke."

"No, stay here." Apollo said.

"No, really, I need to go find Luke." I repeated. I started to walk away but Apollo grabbed my hand. "Apollo, please let go."

"No, please stay. You're going to go find a guy you can't even date?" Apollo raised an eyebrow at me. His response stunned me.

"What did you say?" I questioned.

"You heard me."

"I can date him." I declared.

"Not unless you want him to cheat on his current girlfriend."

"What? Who?"

"Silena Bureaugard."

"N-no, he's not dating her." I stammered.

"Then why is he making out with her?" Apollo said quietly. I turned my head and sure enough, Luke was kissing Silena.

"No!" I breathed, shaking my head. "It can't be true."

"Come here." Apollo offered his shoulder, but I turned and walked away. I kept my head down and walked until I was on the other side of Olympus. I sat down and put my feet in the fountain. The cool water felt good on my feet.

"Everything okay, miss?" A voice asked. I turned around and realized I had been holding back tears which thank god hadn't fallen yet.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking." I answered.

"That's the biggest lie I've ever heard, no offense." The boy said with a sympathetic smile. I smiled weakly back.

"Crap, is it that obvious?"

"Yeah, just a bit. So what's wrong? Can I do anything to help?"

"Oh, you don't want to hear my problems."

"Yes I do. I don't want you to be upset. I just know your name and nothing else except that I don't want to see you upset."

"You know my name?"

"Elizabeth Banks. We go to camp together. We don't have any of our classes together and I can never find you to talk to you during free time. My name is Simon Anderson." Simon held out his hand. I shook it.

"Nice to meet you Simon." I shook his hand.

"So what's wrong?"

"Pretty much, the guy I like, also my best friend, just started dating someone else." I looked down at the water. It shimmered beautifully when everything should have been dull and gloomy.

"I'm sorry. Can I do anything to make it better?"

"No. Thanks though. You're really sweet."

"Well, I'm not sure this will help but if you want, would you like to be my date for the rest of the day? My date uh, well, is dating someone else too."

"I'm so sorry! Who was your date?"

"Silena Bureaugard. She's dating Luke."

"Oh yeah, I know. Luke was my date. I guess we have something in common."

"Yeah, not a very happy thing in common that our dates ended up dating each other but hey, I got to talk to you which I've been wanting to do for a long time."  
"Are you flirting with me?" I grinned shyly.

"Yes, I am. Would you like to go back to the palace with me?"

"Yes, I would." I agreed happily. Simon held out his hand and offered it to me which I took. I lifted my legs out of the pool and put my shoes on. We walked hand in hand back to the palace, hardly noticing that Luke and Silena had stopped their make-out session to watch us go by.

"Elizabeth, I know I just met you and all, but I was wondering… um, would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"I'd like that."

"Great!" Simon exclaimed.

The rest of the day was uneventful; I, along with Simon, avoided Luke and Silena, and acted like any boyfriend and girlfriend would. We went on a separate bus than Luke and Silena on the way back to camp and I dozed on his shoulder. Simon was tall and handsome and kind. He was funny too, and knew when and when not to say anything.

The van stopped and we got out. Everyone was too tired to really say anything so we all just walked to out cabins. Simon walked me to cabin eleven and kissed me good night on the cheek then headed to the Apollo cabin. I walked in the cabin and to my bed where an envelope was waiting for me. The envelope was made of some fire red paper and I opened it. There was a card in it. I opened it with slightly trembling hands because I could sense the power in the envelope:

Hey Elizabeth,

Meet me at the Camp Half-Blood boundary at the forest. I have to see you again. Bring the guitar I gave you underneath your bed. Don't bring anyone, come alone.

I love you!

The first thing that went through my mind after I read this was that this was some sick joke. However, when I looked under my bed and saw the shiny new guitar lying on the ground, I knew it wasn't. Should I go? Should I not? What if it was some psycho coming to kidnap me? I had a weapon but it didn't feel like everyone said it should. I needed a real weapon, something that felt like an extension of my arm.

_Look in the front pocket of your blue suitcase._ My father's voice came through my head. I followed his advice and looked in the pocket. There was a bracelet with aquamarine and sapphire gems studded onto it. All in all, it was totally awesome!

"What's that?" Luke asked.

"It's a bracelet."

"I know _that_, I mean who is it from?"

"My parents." I replied. It wasn't _technically _a lie; it just wasn't the whole truth.

"Oh, it's pretty." Luke commented. I smiled and turned back to my suitcase. I got my pajamas that could double as comfort wear on a rainy day. Speaking of rain, in my whole time here, it hadn't rained. The storms that loomed ominously in the distance always went around camp. Strange. I changed into my pajamas and once I was sure everyone was asleep, I headed out with my guitar and my bracelet that magically turns into a sword when you hit a gem and to the edge of the camp's boundary in the forest. Yes, I know I was crazy, and no I don't care. I knew there would be something powerful there, but I had a feeling it wasn't anything dangerous, and by not dangerous, I mean something that wouldn't kill me without a reason, unlike those cannibals from that club in Miami.

I came out to a small clearing at the edge of the forest. A fire was blazing, and there he was in a white t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and his black hair in that sexy spiked sort of way. I stared at him in shock.

"Apollo."


	8. CHP 8: I Sum up the Summer

**So, you know what chapter this is. I have a question for all of you. Should I or should I not write the story during the Titan War with Percy and Annabeth and Grover and what-not. Let me know what you think in a review or in the poll I am going to create! Sorry if this is kind of a short chapter, I ran out of ideas for this summer. Plus, I have a brilliant idea for next summer.**

Chapter 8: I Sum Up the Summer

"Hello Elizabeth. I'm glad you came." Apollo smiled.

"Well, I wanted to see who gave me the beautiful guitar." I admitted.

"I'm glad. Come here, I'm going to teach you how to play."

"Really?"

"Yeah. First you need to learn the chords though." Apollo said as he patted the seat next to him. I walked over and sat down. I don't know how long I was there but I learned almost all of the chords.

"I'm going to be really tired in the morning."

"No you're not. I am the god of dreams; I can make sure you have a good night's sleep."

"Oh, thank you."

"No problem. Now, close your eyes." Apollo told me. I did as I was told and when I opened them, I was in my bed in cabin eleven with my guitar under my bed.

From that night on, I went to see Apollo every night, learning songs that would come out in the future. Most of them were by Taylor Swift, for example _The Story of Us_, _Enchanted_, _Haunted_, and _Better than Revenge_. I learned a few others, such as _You and Me_ by Lifehouse, _The Answer to Our Life _by the Backstreet Boys (yes, I love the Backstreet Boys).

It was two weeks before the end of the summer and I was at sword fighting. Luke and I were teasing each other and having a great time.

"Luke! Elizabeth! Come here!" Will shouted. Luke and I walked over to Will.

"What's up Will?" I said.

"Remember that survey that went around camp a few weeks ago?" Will inquired. I looked at him blankly, because I had no clue. "No? Okay, well, there was a survey that went around that questioned you on which people you would like to see the most battle it out. Well, guess who the people are?"

"Us." Luke sighed.

"Bingo."

"When do we fight?" I asked.

"Now. Go suit up and meet at the arena." Will instructed. Luke and I headed to the armory where we gathered our armor.

"Luke, have you ever done this before?"

"Yeah, I was against Will. I beat him."

"Ah fudge, I have no chance."

"Yes you do. You have a great chance. You beat Will your first time sword fighting. Do you know how hard that is? That's unheard of."

"It is? Could you come help me real quick? This breast plate is stuck and it won't come out and it's the only one that's my size."

"Yeah." Luke came over and together, we pulled the breast plate out of the mess. Of course, we were also thrown back in the process. Both of us landed on our butts which made us burst out laughing.

"You okay?" Luke laughed.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. You?" I giggled back.

"Yeah. Here, let me help you up." Luke stood up and held out his hand. I took it and we finished putting on our armor. We walked to the arena and stood in front of each other.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen. Today, it is Luke Castellan versus Elizabeth Banks. Luke: The best swordsman that we have had in over two hundred years. Elizabeth: Defeated her instructor first time she ever fought with him. Both are formidable opponents, but only one can win. Good luck to the both of you. Please, no maiming or killing. Get ready." Chiron announced. Luke and I backed up while doing one of those thingies where you make the sword spin aroundyour hand. I don't know what it's called. We lifted our swords and when Chiron yelled "Attack!" Luke and I lunged at each other. It was furious fighting. Luke was amazing at sword fighting. I don't know how we ended up this way but I somehow had my arm around Luke's neck with my sword at his throat and Luke had his arm around my neck with his sword at my neck.

"Great minds think alike." Luke joked.

"Yes, they do." I said with a grin. We got out of each other's holds and continued fighting. I started playing on defense, looking for a weakness. At first, it seemed like he had none. Then, slowly but surely, I started to realize that he always went for my right side. If I could get his sword in the perfect position, I could hit the hilt and knock the sword out of his hand. I waited by playing defense until the perfect opportunity I had been waiting for came. I neatly hit the hilt of sword, which he then proceeded to drop. I ninja kicked him in the stomach (sorry Luke) and before I knew it, Luke was on the ground with my sword pointed at his throat.

"Elizabeth." Luke looked at me with wide eyes.

"Sorry Luke. I didn't mean to." I held out my hand.

"Sorry? Elizabeth! That was freaking amazing!" Luke yelled, jumping up. The crowd exploded and I was engulfed by screaming people. Even the Ares and Athena kids were cheering for me. Luke was still hugging me when Chiron came through and put a gold laurel on my head. I grinned in spite of myself and the excitement didn't end until before bed time and I was finally able to fall asleep into a peaceful sleep for the first night of my life at camp. A few days later I broke up with Simon because he was a great guy but he was that really good guy friend that all girls have.

The end of the summer came too quickly. I had a choice to stay or to go back home. I had no clue what to do.

**Luke's POV**

Okay, first things first. The end of summer sucks. Especially if the most amazing girl you have ever met hasn't decided if she is staying or leaving. Second, it sucks when you have an ex-girlfriend from the Aphrodite cabin. Yeah, I dumped Silena. She's beautiful and nice and all, but she's not my type. Most guys here would smack me upside the head if I said that aloud, and that is precisely why I am not saying it aloud. At the end of each summer, we received a bead of the most exciting thing of that summer. It was of a centaur in a prom dress. I guess I should explain that. It was a few days after Elizabeth's victory over me and all of a sudden, this herd of centaurs came out of nowhere and for some reason, they were in prom dresses. We never did figure out why they were in them but it was still hilarious. Hey, it got some of us out of our chores, one of those people being me so I didn't mind their intrusion.

"Luke?" Elizabeth came up beside me. I had been staring out over Long Island Sound from the dock rail. I was sitting on the rail and Elizabeth hoisted herself up and over it so she could face the same direction as me.

"Hey, so, what have you decided?" I inquired casually. I knew what the answer would be but my heart was pounding and I was really hoping it wouldn't be what I thought it was.

"I'm leaving for the school year. I would miss my friends too much." She said quietly.

"I knew you would." I smiled. "If there is one thing that I learned about you this summer, it's that you love your friends."

Elizabeth smiled at me and said, "Hey, um, I took a lot of pictures while I was here. If you want any, I can send them to you."

(Just so you know, because I don't think any of us telling this story mentioned it, Elizabeth took pictures of her time here.)

"Yeah, I'd like that. When do you leave?"

"Tomorrow. School starts early in Colorado."

"Oh, well, say goodbye to me before you go, okay?"

"I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye."

Tomorrow came too quickly and I dreaded saying goodbye to Elizabeth. I walked out of the cabin and saw everyone giving hugs to each other. Most were leaving but some, like me and Annabeth Chase and Clarisse and the Stoll brothers (ugh) were staying. I walked up to Elizabeth and hugged her.

"IM me, okay?" I told her.

"I promise." She smiled. We hugged for a long time and we finally broke apart when Chiron told us that Elizabeth's parents were here.

"Bye, Elizabeth."

"Bye, Luke."

And with those final words, Elizabeth walked away.

**That is the end of summer one. Just so you know, Elizabeth visited camp during Christmas vacation (much to Luke's pleasure). Well, I will get to writing Chapter 9 which means the beginning to the second summer! I have created the poll now so let me know!**


	9. CHP 9: Kidnapped

_**You know what chapter this, need I say more? I have that poll posted that I mentioned in the previous chapter. Let me know what you think!**_

Chapter 9: Kidnapped

**Will's POV**

I was on my way to the airport to pick Elizabeth up. Her flight had left earlier than the itinerary said so I was a late to pick her up. As an unaccompanied minor, I was able to go to the gate and pick her up instead of near baggage claim. I hurriedly got out of my car, nearly ran to the check-in counter, went through security as quickly as I could (never go to JFK airport on a Saturday in the afternoon, it takes for-freaking-ever to get through security!) and hurried to Elizabeth's gate. People were crowded together and talking excitedly… and not in a good way. Everyone had worried expressions and some woman was sobbing hysterically. I turned to a man next to me.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear? The plane's engines all shut down and the landing gear won't work." The man said quickly.

"What?" I yelled.

"Oh, here it comes!" the man said with anxiety. I forced my way to the window and saw the plane in the distance with a gliding over to the runway at a very high speed.

"Elizabeth." I murmured. "Please be all right."

The plane wobbled and landed with a shower of sparks and fire. There were fire trucks and ambulances everywhere and once the plane finally stopped, all the passengers were quickly escorted off. I looked for Elizabeth's blonde hair but there were about thirty blondes coming off the plane so it was impossible for me to find her. The passengers from the plane were coming to the walkway when my cell phone went off.

It was from Elizabeth.

Where are you? It said. I replied quickly.

I'm at Gate 28A. Are you okay? I replied.

She didn't reply back.

"Will!" Someone shouted. I knew the voice immediately. I whipped around to see Elizabeth running to me.

"Elizabeth!" I ran over to her and had her in a bear hug. "Thank the gods you're okay!"

"What do you mean? Of course I'm okay." Elizabeth laughed. "What's wrong?"

"Wait, you didn't hear about it?"

"Hear about what?"

"The plane that lost all its engines and its landing gear wouldn't work? You didn't hear about that?"

"No."

"Gods, I thought you were on it! I was freaking out!"

"Oh my gods! I'm so sorry!" Elizabeth said.

"Don't worry about it. Come on; let's go get your bags." I told her. We headed to baggage claim and after ten minutes of standing around waiting for all five of her suitcases (hey, she's related to Aphrodite. At least she doesn't have ten bags like the other Aphrodite kids). We walked to my car and got in. We drove in the car towards camp where I would be an instructor for the summer. We were on the stretch of road that would lead us directly to camp. I turned my head to look at Elizabeth for a second and when I turned around, I had to hurry and swerve to avoid "something" in the road. I tried to gain control of my truck but it flipped over five times before it stopped.

"Elizabeth!" I shouted.

"I'm fine. I'm just shook up. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's get out of here." I said. I pushed my semi-crushed door out and ran over to Elizabeth's side and helped her out. I pulled her out of the wreckage.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, brushing dirt off of her.

"I'm fine." She assured me. "Come on, we should get to camp."

We turned towards the direction of camp but were stopped short by five Cyclops in front of us.

"Elizabeth, get behind me." I whispered. She did as she was told. I felt her head turn around and then felt her turn around completely.

"Will, behind you." Elizabeth whispered urgently. I turned around and five more Cyclops had appeared. There were now ten and they had formed a circle around us.

"What do you want?" I declared.

"We want the girl." The biggest Cyclops said.

"Well, you're not getting her." I said.

"We'll see about that." The Cyclops replied. He and his ugly army advanced towards us but stopped when I pulled out my sword of celestial bronze while Elizabeth somehow made a deadly sword appear. I wondered where in the world she got it from.

"This will be fun." Elizabeth said and I knew she was grinning. She and I attacked the first two Cyclops that came forward. She was a true warrior. Elizabeth fought with extraordinary skill, way beyond what she was supposed to know. I had always been told I was one of the best fighters besides Luke (he was the best), but the way Elizabeth was fighting, they would change their mind quickly. I heard a yell and saw that a Cyclops had been destroyed by Elizabeth. The distraction had given my Cyclops a chance to attack me and if Elizabeth hadn't blocked the blow, I would've been a goner. Unfortunately, the rest of the Cyclops surged towards us and we were overwhelmed. Somehow, Elizabeth and I were able to duck away from the group and fight them head on out of a circle.

"Help! Elizabeth! Help me!" A voice shouted from the woods.

"Luke…" I heard her breathe.

"Help!" Luke's voice came again, more urgent. "Please!"

"Luke!" Elizabeth screamed. She dashed off into the forest after Luke while I was shouting for her to come back.

"Elizabeth! It's a trap!" I warned as I was trying to run after her. She was long gone into the forest. Something thwacked me on the head and I fell to the ground barely conscious. I heard Elizabeth scream and saw her being dragged out of the forest by four massive Cyclopes.

"Elizabeth!" I tried to yell, but nothing came out.

"Will!" Elizabeth screamed. She was desperately struggling to break free from the grip of the four Cyclops that had a hold of her. They dragged her to a car and threw her into it, leaving me yelling for her and trying to get up. The car sped off and I staggered up.

"Elizabeth!" I yelled helplessly. The van was long gone and I was pretty sure my ankle was sprained. I painfully turned around and ran. The adrenaline coursing through my veins to get to camp so I could gather some campers to go after Elizabeth made the pain shooting up my ankle disappear and I didn't stop until I ran into Fiona… literally.

"Will! What in Hades' happened to you?" Fiona rubbed her head where we had run bonked heads (okay, despite the situation, I love the word bonked. Haha, it is funny… okay back on course).

"Where's Chiron?"

"At the big house as usual. Why? What the hell happened… and where's Elizabeth? Weren't you supposed to pick her up?"

"That's why I need to see him." I told her gravely. She stood up and ran with me to the Big House. A lot of the Apollo kids are really fleet-footed so she easily outran me. We reached the Big House really quickly.

"Chiron!" I said, breathing heavily.

"What is all the fuss about Wilson Hussey?" Mr. D huffed in annoyance. I ignored his getting my name wrong because he did that to everyone but Elizabeth and we had no clue how she did it.

"It's Elizabeth! I don't know why but they took her. I don't know where. We were driving and all of a sudden-" I explained.

"Hold on, Will. What happened? Start from the beginning." Chiron ordered me kindly but firmly. I started from the beginning but explained it as quickly as I could. When I was done, Chiron leaned back.

"Fi, go tell all the cabin leaders that there is a meeting to be held. Tell Luke to come as well. He will want to hear about this."

"Chiron! I need to talk to you!" Luke came leaping gracefully over the balcony rail.

"Ah, Luke, I was just about to send for you. What is wrong?"

"It's Elizabeth! She's in danger!"

"What? How did you know that?"

"Wait… you knew?" Luke said quietly with a look of confusion on his face.

"I just found out from Mr. Hunter and Ms. Wright. Luke, gather the heads of the cabins. We shall hold an emergency meeting. Fiona, go with Luke. Will, stay here. I need to ask you a few questions."

Luke and Fiona raced away to gather Mickey Dunstan (Ares), Janet Vreeland (Demeter), Liam Pyre (Apollo), Nick Johnson (Dionysus), Marisol Stevens (Aphrodite), and Jamie Lynn (Athena) while I stayed behind and sat down in silence.

"Come closer, Will. I will fix some of those gashes in your arm." Chiron motioned for me to sit next to him. I scooted my chair over and let him bandage my arm up. The world was spinning and I willed myself to stay conscious.

"Will, you miraculously don't have a concussion but you are very run down. Tell me, Elizabeth isn't an easy person to defeat. How many Cyclopes were there and how did they get her?"

I took a deep breath and said "There were ten of them. I don't remember how many we killed but one of them was in the forest and it called out in Luke's voice. She- she ran to the forest and I tried to stop her but I don't remember much because I was hit in the head by one of them. All I know is that they threw her in a van and drove off." I looked down miserably. How could I have let that happen to Elizabeth?

"Let me tell you this: This is not your fault nor is it Elizabeth's. I already know that her biggest flaw is how much she cares for the people she loves. I'm not surprised that the Cyclopes chose Luke's voice. He's special to her because he was technically the first one she met and he has saved her life once or twice. We will hold a meeting and you will choose who you want to accompany you on your quest after you go to the oracle."

"Yes sir."

"Good, now go to the Oracle while I get everyone ready. Oh, Luke and Fiona are back."

Luke and Fiona were running back with the heads of the cabins attempting to catch up to them. Mickey was griping about Luke interrupting his very important nap while the others all had looks of confusion written plainly on their face. Of course, Mickey was the son of Ares and Ares wasn't the friendliest god and only cared about himself.

"Chiron, Fi and I want to be a part of this meeting. Fi was the first one Will told and I had that dream."

"I was already going to have you two participate in this meeting, seeing how Elizabeth is your best friend. Go and take a seat." Chiron and I got up and while we both went into the Big House, I went up the stairs to the attic where the Oracle was. The stairs creaked and groaned underneath me but they were sturdy. The closer the attic came, the damper the air got. I reached the hatch to the attic and entered. I never have liked the place. Dusty trophies that kids had succeeded in getting on their quests were stacked on the floor and shelves. I headed to the dusty mummy that sat on the stool, her mouth closed as if she hadn't spoken in thousands of years.

"How will I rescue Elizabeth?" I asked the Oracle. Green mist poured from her mouth and her voice spoke inside my head:

One-Eyed Monsters of the North

Gone with the Wind they have gone forth

A nasty trick awaits the clouded mind

When the goal they want they will find

Two people shall be found

Caution shall make one stay bound

I blinked my eyes once and the green mist was gone, the Oracle's mouth clamped shut as if she had never opened it. I was going to find Elizabeth, I knew I would. The last line worried me though.

I took my seat at the round table. Luke was directly to my left and Fi was directly to my right. Once everyone had taken their seat, Chiron stood up while Mr. D, who was next to him, was successfully ignoring us (which he did best. His father "grounded" him at Camp Half-Blood after Mr. D chased after an off-limits wood nymph) by fiddling with a ping pong ball.

"Now, I have called this emergency meeting because a camper has been kidnapped. Elizabeth Banks was kidnapped by a team of Cyclopes. She was with Will Hunter during the time. The Cyclopes made his car flip over and when the two of them were out, the Cyclopes had surrounded them. While they fought, Elizabeth fell to a dirty trick when a Cyclopes used its ability to change voices to lure her away from the fight. Elizabeth was kidnapped and we are sending a group to get her that will be led by Will." Chiron explained.

"I'll go." Liam and Marisol said at the same time.

"She should escape herself." Mickey grunted.

"Mickey, if you ever say something like that again you son of a-" Luke threatened but was cut-off by Chiron with a glare. I heard Luke mutter something that sounded very much like "bucking mass hole." I suppressed a smile.

"No, I'm going." Fi stood. "I dare any of you to try and stop me."

No one did.

"I'm joining too." Luke stood up and his gaze was steely.

"No, I'm going." Mickey stood up and faced Luke. "I'll prove to Mr. Tantrum over there that I will help her escape even if it was her fault she was captured in the first place."

That was the wrong thing to say and by the look on Mickey's face, he knew it. Luke's face turned to stone and you could tell he hated Mickey with every ounce of his being.

"Never. Say. That. In. Front. Of. Me. Again." Luke spoke with an eerie calmness, too calm for what his face said, but he had injected poison into every single word and syllable. Mickey gulped and hastily sat down and for once actually looked scared (it's hard to scare an Ares kid). Luke glared at Mickey one more time before sitting down. Everyone was quiet before Chiron interjected.

"That settles it. Will, Luke, and Fi will go in search of Elizabeth at dawn tomorrow."

"Woah, wait. Why can't we start today? It's early enough." Luke protested.

"Will needs to be bandaged. I'm sorry Luke that you cannot start the search today but my decision is final."

Everyone got up and walked to their cabins.

**Fiona's POV**

I walked slowly to my cabin, all the while keeping a careful eye on Luke who was still furious at Mickey and I was afraid he might pick a fight with Mickey. If he did, then he would be fighting the whole Ares cabin, and well, let me just say that I would place my bets on Luke. Just saying…

"Fi!" Someone shouted. I turned around and saw Will coming towards me.

"Listen, I talked to Chiron and he reluctantly said that we could start today if we wanted. So, pack your bags as quickly as you can. We're leaving as soon as possible."

"How did you get Chiron to let us go?"

"I don't know. I'm going to go tell Luke."

"Alright." I said. Will ran after Luke while I booked it to my cabin to quickly pack my things. I was able to pack everything I needed in less than thirty minutes. At the last minute, I decided to grab an outfit for Elizabeth because I knew that when we found her, she would want to change into clean clothes.

"Are you ready, Fi?" Will asked.

"Yeah, I was just getting an outfit for Elizabeth for when we find her." I said.

"You okay?" Will lifted my chin with a finger.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about Elizabeth… do you think she will be all right?"

"We'll get her, I promise." Will said. I stood up and we walked to Will's truck where Luke was already waiting for us. I called shotgun so Luke got stuck in the back while Will started the engine.

"I have no clue where we are supposed to go." He suddenly said. I had already opened a book that had Elizabeth had sent me for my birthday. I had brought it to keep me occupied.

"What book is that?" Luke inquired.

"Gone with the Wind. It was a gift from Elizabeth."

"Did you say Gone with the Wind?" Will asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Where does it take place?"

"Georgia… Atlanta I think. Why?"

"I know where we are going." Will said with finality. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and we shot off with me clinging to the handle on the door for dear life.


	10. CHP 10: Swords, Shields and Pie

**I'm back! Sorry this chapter took so long! I went on vacation and then I had super busy week so yeah… plus I was completely engrossed in a book that is a part of the **_**House of Night **_**series and they are ridiculously addictive! Now, here's the tenth chapter, enjoy!**

Chapter 10: Swords, Shields… and Pie

**Elizabeth's POV**

For the thousandth time, I yelled. I was in a cellar with a wooden door that must have been made of English Oak because it wouldn't budge. Then again, I was completely exhausted, I hadn't eaten in forever, and I was sore, so it made sense that I couldn't do anything. I heard a yell down the hall and wished I could see what or who it was. I heard another scream and a whimper. What could I do though? I couldn't even rescue myself, so how would I rescue the person or thing in trouble? A door slammed shut and my door opened. A massive Cyclopes with two front teeth stood in front of me grinning rather stupidly. He shoved a plate at me and shut the door. I didn't touch the food because I simply didn't trust the Cyclopes. Can you blame me?

It really sucked being down here because there was nothing to do. Unlike most demigods (and by most I mean 99.99% of demigods), I didn't have dyslexia _or_ ADHD and that is really rare. There is one about every hundred years or so. I stood up and paced back and forth until my legs got tired. Then I leaned back and daydreamed. Was it even day time? There were no windows so I had no clue of telling what time of day it was. I yelled when a sudden pain in my stomach happened and was just about to open my eyes when my door splintered open.

"Are you okay, Miss?" A voice asked. I opened my eyes and saw a boy, no older than ten years old staring at me with bright gray eyes and blonde hair.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"My name is Andrew DiNozzo." Andrew said.

"Can I call you Andy? It's easier than Andrew."

"Yeah, go ahead. Come on, let's get out of here!" Andy urged. I stood up, staggered, and then we fled out of the room. I was really hoping that we wouldn't run into any Cyclopes because I was in no condition to fight. We ran and I could see that Andy was limping severely but I didn't have time to ask what happened because we could see our freedom at the end of the hall. Light came from the crack under the door and I could taste the fresh air compared to this stuffy air we were currently in. We were literally ten feet from the door when a Cyclopes stood in front of us, blocking our way.

"You're not going anywhere." The Cyclopes said. We were instantly surrounded. The biggest of them all came towards is with a baseball bat; Andy whimpered.

**Luke's POV**

Has anyone ever told you that demigod dreams suck? No? Well, I'm telling you now! They are worse than pickles… and I seriously hate pickles! This dream was similar to the ones I had been having ever since Elizabeth had been kidnapped.

_I was in a dank cellar and the room was horribly lit. A shadow caught my eye and I turned to see a boy, probably around ten, running silently through the hall; I followed him. He was limping severely but he kept running. I heard a yell that I immediately recognized as Elizabeth's. Both of us stopped in out tracks. The boy, who was obviously scared to death, whirled around and ran to a door. He rammed into it with all his might and the door gave way. He crawled over the debris and towards a curled up figure, obviously female, in the corner. The boy lifted her and the girl, while not limping, I could tell was exhausted. That's when I saw the girl clearly. It was Elizabeth. She looked okay for the most part but she was deathly pale and had dark circles under her eyes. Elizabeth staggered, regained her footing, and the two of them fled. I followed them down a hall, up a flight of stairs, and another hall; I could see the extra burst of speed Elizabeth gave herself when the door to her freedom came in view. I could practically hear her whooping silently with delight. Our delight was short-lived. A Cyclopes stepped in front of them and they were quickly surrounded. The biggest Cyclopes, with a baseball bat in hand, stepped forward and I heard the young boy whimper. Elizabeth stepped in front of the boy. The Cyclopes swung the bat towards her and I yelled for her._

"Luke! Wake up! We're stopping for the night." Fi said.

"Okay." I mumbled. I got out of the van, found out that we were in North Carolina, and followed Fi and Will to a room. We entered it. There were two beds and a full length couch. Two of us would take the beds while one slept on the couch, which I volunteered for the couch.

"You sure Luke?" Will asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I answered. Will shrugged and plopped down on the bed. He was asleep instantly. I knew he was exhausted. He hadn't stopped driving for practically two days straight. He had stayed awake by drinking cup after cup after cup of coffee. Fi and I would have offered to drive but neither of us was old enough. Fi sat down on the bed and turned to me.

"So what were you dreaming about?" She inquired quietly.

"Elizabeth. I saw her trying to escape with another person. They were stopped and… and I think she was hit with a baseball bat." I spoke quietly. Fi paled and closed her eyes.

"Gods, I hope she's okay." Fi murmured.

"Me too… me too," I said. Fi leaned back against her pillows and soon was asleep. I was the only one awake. I sat there on the couch, deep in thought and a sudden spark of genius happened. I could create an empathy link! I focused on Elizabeth. Hopefully she was asleep because it worked better if one or both of you was asleep. I concentrated until I thought my head would explode from the pressure I was putting on it until suddenly the pain went away and Elizabeth was in front of me.

_She was back in a cellar and she looked even worse than my last dream._

"_Elizabeth?" I asked. Her eyes flew open at the sound of my voice and her voice cracked when she said, "Luke?"_

"_Hey, you're okay?"_

"_You came for me!" She shouted. She attempted to move towards me but gasped in pain and crumpled to the floor._

"_Elizabeth!" I yelled._

"_I'm okay. I think it's just a broken rib," She replied._

"_You don't look okay at all. What happened?" I questioned gravely. Elizabeth grimaced._

"_I don't really remember. All I remember is Andy and I were almost able to escape, we were surrounded by Cyclopes, and one was going to hit Andy with the bat so I stood in front of Andy and got hit instead. Try to avoid letting a Cyclopes hit you with a bat, just for future reference," Elizabeth tried to laugh but shut her eyes in pain._

"_Will, Fi, and I are on our way there. Do you know where you are?"_

"_No, I haven't got a clue. All I know is we are somewhere underground. Luke? How am I talking to you?"_

"_It's an empathy link. I c-"_

"_Luke! Break it immediately!" She exclaimed suddenly._

"_Why?"_

"_Because if I die, then you die! I don't want that to happen!" Elizabeth cried._

"_Don't even say that Elizabeth. I- I don't want to live without you," I said quietly. Elizabeth looked up at me with tear-filled eyes._

"_Luke, please don't say that."_

"_Why not? Is it a crime?" I asked. "Elizabeth, you're my best friend so forget about it. I'm not breaking it until I see you again. And I WILL see you again, I promise."_

"_The gods will hold you to that promise Luke."_

"_I know, and I know I will succeed, that's why I said it."_

"_You always were stubborn." Elizabeth smiled in amusement._

"_Look who's talking." I countered. Elizabeth grinned. A bang came from the hallway and Elizabeth's smiling face disappeared._

"_Luke, get out of here now. They're coming."_

"_I will see you again. I promise."_

_The last thing I saw was Elizabeth looking at me sadly and then the door opening, shedding light in the dark enclosure, blinding me._

I woke up sweating. Looking at the clock next to me, I saw it was four in the morning. I had been asleep for six hours. It had felt like six minutes. I leaned back and closed my eyes. I fell into a fitful sleep with the images of Elizabeth floating around in my mind. I woke up to the sound of a shower. I opened my eyes to find Will in a clean shirt, a different pair of jeans, and him flipping through the TV channels.

"Hey Luke," He said.

"Morning," I replied. Fi came out in a pair of jeans and an Aeropostale tee shirt with her ring that turns into a bow (by twisting it) on her middle finger.

"Your turn Luke," Fi nodded to the bathroom. I stood up, grabbed a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and went to take a shower. It was refreshing to take a shower and I was reenergized. I _was_ going to find Elizabeth. I walked out and the three of us got in the car. I took the front this time while Fi took the back. Will decided we should eat something before we headed to South Carolina. We stopped at an IHOP, also known as the International House of Pancakes. I pigged out on a hamburger and some French fries, same as Will. Fi had a chicken salad and we gave her hell about it. She didn't enjoy our teasing, but we did. Some really ugly women came in the restaurant and one stared at me directly in the eye. The look made a shiver go down my spine. They were monsters, I was sure of it.

"Will, Fi, we need to get out of here. There are monsters over there." I informed them. Will nodded slightly and ordered the waiter to bring the check. Unfortunately, the monsters were already coming over to us. The middle one grinned and a tongue that was obviously not human's snaked out. I shuddered.

"Demigods, you shall die." The one on the right said quietly. I glanced down at my table where I had some horse radish sauce that was way too runny. I picked it up and threw it in her face. Will threw down some cash on the table and we bolted for the door. One of them jumped in front of us. Will grabbed Fi from running straight into it. What we needed was a distraction… and I had the perfect idea.

"FOOD FIGHT!" I yelled, grabbing a pie off of a startled waiter's tray and threw it at the monster. She screeched and we grabbed more food, throwing it at the monsters. All the little kids joined in and I saw one of the monster's get hit in the head by another piece of pie. By the looks of it, pie is a very deadly projectile. Will, Fi and I ran to the door and hopped in Will's truck. Will proceeded to tear out of that parking lot with smoke rising off of the pavement from the friction. In five minutes, the food fight was far behind us.

"Luke, I'm not sure if I should be mad at you or if I should be thanking you." Will said.

"Go with the latter one please and thank you." I replied with a grin. Incredibly, none of us had gotten a piece of food on us.

"Let's just get to Atlanta." Fi declared. The thought of Elizabeth sobered us all up and we went silent. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

**Will's POV**

The drive to Atlanta was really, really long but it took us a lesser amount of time because I was driving like Hades himself was after me. We reached Atlanta just as the sun was setting.

I parked my car in a restaurant parking lot and we got out.

"Where do we start looking for her?" Fi asked. Luke had his eyes shut and I was about to ask him what the hell he was doing when his eyes flew open.

"She's being held in the basement of _The Rochester Hotel_." Luke said immediately.

"How do you know?" I inquired.

"I just do! Come on! It's down the street!" Luke raced off with Fi and me trailing behind him. We reached the hotel and stood there. I took out my sword with a flip of my special coin, Luke uncapped his sword, and Fi twisted her ring so that her bow and her arrows appeared.

"Let's go get Elizabeth." I declared… and we headed into the abandoned hotel.


	11. CHP 11: The Rescue

**So here's the eleventh chapter, and the chapter after this one will wrap up her second summer. The thirteenth chapter will be partly during Elizabeth's school year and then the rest will be during the summer. Elizabeth's fourth summer (I think) will be the most exciting! Well, at least to me it will be. So, enjoy!**

Chapter 12: The Rescue

Luke, Fi, and I crept along the hallways, careful not to make any noise. I was glad that all of us had worn some black because it helped us blend in more easily with our surroundings. The three of us were trying to find a stairwell that looked like it would lead to a basement. Fi found it. Luke and I came running over quietly. I was the first to take a step down into the dank air. It smelled like rotten eggs down here, meaning that a Cyclopes had been here recently. I readjusted my grip on my sword and I could see Fi gripping her bow tighter.

I stepped down and the stair groaned from my weight. All of us cringed at the sound and for a few moments we stood in a breathless silence. Nothing sounded like it was coming to kill us (yet) so we moved on. After what seemed like an eternity, we reached the end of the stairs, all of us sweating from all the emotions going on inside us.

The hall was a one way hall. There was one way out and one way in. We couldn't get stuck down here; that much was clear. I motioned for Fi and Luke to follow. I cracked the first door open and peeked inside the room… nothing. Fi and Luke had gone to the second and third doors. They turned their heads to me and shook their heads. Elizabeth wasn't there either. We moved down the hall, checking every door. I was losing hope. Luke had better not be wrong about this place. I sighed quietly, opening the tenth door, and stared. A boy was hunched in the corner, his blonde hair matted down and filthy. I crept in and knelt down beside him.

"Are you alive?" I whispered. I didn't know what to say. The boy didn't reply. I shook him and he still didn't respond. I couldn't hear him breathing or even see the rise and fall of his chest to see if he was breathing. I hung my head, whispered a prayer for him and left the room, a hollow feeling inside my chest. I came to the end door and opened it. I was expecting another cell but this was a _room_. There were chains and weapons and even a refrigerator in there. That wasn't what caught my eye though. A long chain hung down from the ceiling. Again, not what caught my eye; it was what was at the end of the chain. A pair of hands was held up by the chains, and a head rested against the left arm. Blonde hair spilled over the person's shoulders and the person's red shirt and denim jeans were torn… Elizabeth.

I bolted over to her and gently lifted her chin with my knuckle.

"Elizabeth? Please be alive." I murmured. Elizabeth's eyes slowly fluttered open and her hazel eyes stared into mine.

"Luke?"

"No, Will. Hey, beautiful," I smiled.

"You came for me… you came for me!" She whispered, her eyes tearing up.

"Of course I came for you." I said, hugging her. She gasped and I pulled back. Her face was twisted with pain. I put my hand on her shoulder and she flinched violently. Her breaths were becoming quick and she was biting her lip. I looked at her and then back at her shoulder. Slowly, I slid part of her shirt off her shoulder and was horrified at the bruise. It was purple, green, and yellow.

"I need to get you out of here." I told her.

"What about Andrew? There's a boy named Andrew that we need to rescue too." She said.

"Did-did he have blonde hair?" I queried, hoping she would say no.

"Yeah, he's about ten years old."

Damn.

"Elizabeth, um, he's not here."

"You mean he escaped?"

"No."

"You mean he's… no… he can't be!" Elizabeth cried silently. I found the key to the chains that bound her hands together. I unlocked them and she fell towards the floor crying in quiet hysterics.

"Elizabeth, we need to get out of here." I urged her silently. I was about to say something else when the sound of metal clashing together made me look up. I ran to the door and saw Luke and Fi fighting four Cyclopes.

"Will! We need your help!" Fi yelled as she shot five arrows at once towards the Cyclopes. They all dodged them. I ran back, grabbed my sword which I had thrown on the ground when I saw Elizabeth and ran to aid Luke and Fi. The hall was narrow and there wasn't much space to move around. Little by little, we were pushed back. Luke delivered an experienced blow to a Cyclopes and destroyed him. Fi shot volley after volley of arrows at them and was able to destroy another Cyclopes. The other two were smart enough to dodge the arrows. Fi cursed because she had run out of arrows. She pulled out her sword, her least favorite weapon and fought with Luke and me. The last two Cyclopes were the biggest. Fiona's sword was knocked out of her hand and she pulled out her dagger. I thrust my sword at the Cyclopes vulnerable chest and he disappeared by exploding into a yellow dust like substance. The remaining Cyclopes struck Fi with his club, sending her backwards. She was too dazed to get up. Luke attempted to slice the monster in half but the Cyclopes intercepted the blow and the impact knocked Luke's sword out of his hand. Luke backed away and went to Fi. I was left with the monster and the raged on between the two of us. The Cyclopes cornered me and I couldn't do anything. I was done. I had failed Elizabeth, Luke, and Fi. The Cyclopes lifted his club, I heard Fi and Luke yelling for me, and I saw the Cyclopes start bringing the club down…


	12. CHP 12:Identity

**I'm not sure what to say so just read. Find out what happens to Will!**

Chapter 12: Identity

The club was coming towards my head in slow-motion. You know how most people have a flashback of their life? To be truthful, mine was "Aw, crap," although, I had a highly more colorful word that I was thinking of in my mind.

Fi and Luke were yelling for me. Fi's voice was high-pitched and I knew she was crying. The club got closer… and closer… and closer… and closer… and then poof. The Cyclopes disappeared in yellow dust.

"What the-?" I stared at the place where the Cyclopes that was about to kill me had stood, dumbfounded. The only thing in its place was a celestial bronze sword that was sapphire studded. I expected to see Luke or Fi standing there, but they weren't. They were still where they had been a few moments ago, eyes wide open. I turned to look down the hall and there was Elizabeth, breathing extremely hard.

"That was for Andrew." I barely heard her. She collapsed. Luke reached her first and pulled her into his arms and cradled her.

"Elizabeth?" Fi whispered, on the verge of tears. I came up behind them, Elizabeth's sword in my hand. She was breathing, that's all that mattered. Kneeling down, I put a hand on Fi's shoulder.

"We need to get out of here. Luke, do you think you can carry her?" I inquired, looking down at Elizabeth's pale face.

"Yeah, come on, before reinforcements come. I have a feeling it wasn't just those four." Luke replied. He stood up and gingerly shifted Elizabeth in his arms. We walked as quickly as we could without making too much noise. I prayed to my father, asking him to allow us to get out of the hotel without being seen. He must have heard me, because not only were we able to get out of the hotel without being seen, but we weren't even seen on the sidewalk. A major accident had happened down the road and everyone was down there gawking.

We made it to my car and Luke handed Elizabeth to me while he got in the truck. Then I handed Elizabeth back to him. He shifted her so that she was comfortable. Fi and I hopped into my truck and I drove out of Atlanta like Orpheus out of the Underworld, afraid that if I looked back, Elizabeth wouldn't be there anymore.

We drove until we found a nice hotel far away from Atlanta. I checked in, got a suite (after kind of using the mist to convince the woman working there that we had a free night in the penthouse…) and helped Luke carry Elizabeth to our room. We set her down on the bed and I ran to get some towels. Fi, being a daughter of Apollo, was great at healing wounds. However, by the time she had healed Elizabeth's most severe wounds (none of which would cause permanent damage thank the gods), Fi looked as pale as Elizabeth did. I ordered Fi to go lie down on the couch and to get some sleep. She didn't argue. I sat in a chair and Luke did the same.

**Luke's POV**

I watched Elizabeth as she slept peacefully, probably for the first time this week. I could see Will out of the corner of my eye. His head kept bobbing up and down.

"Will, go get some sleep." I told him quietly.

"No, I should be here when Elizabeth wakes up." He protested.

"Will, you need the sleep. You look like you were the one on the brink of death, not Elizabeth… no offense." I added hastily. Will gave in and went to the couch in the den, leaving me alone with Elizabeth. I remembered my empathy link with her. I could talk to her. I closed my eyes and focused on Elizabeth.

"Luke? Where am I?" Her voice was sharp and clear, but also very weak and soft at the same time.

"You're safe, in a hotel far away from Atlanta." I replied. I felt her hand touch my arm and smiled at the touch… wait a minute, you couldn't touch a person in an empathy link. I opened my eyes and found Elizabeth staring at me curiously.

"Did I just read your mind?" She whispered. Her eyes got wide. "Holy crap! I'm psychic!"

I laughed. I knew she was joking, even though she was trying to look serious.

"It's our empathy link. I don't know why it worked though because neither one of us was asleep. One of us has to be asleep." I said, pondering the question.

"Luke, I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I know who my father is."

"Who?"

Her eyes glistened and I knew what was coming.

"Hermes." She whispered. No, it couldn't be. She and I couldn't be sisters.

"That's not possible."

"It is." Her face was filled with countless emotions: pain, anger, despair, helplessness, hopelessness, sadness. I wanted to scream at the world, I wanted to yell at my father for ever introducing me to her. If I hadn't met her, I would never have fallen in love with her and we wouldn't be in this mess.

"Elizabeth, it's okay." I hugged her. "We can just be friends."

"You'd be okay with that?" Elizabeth asked, looking directly at me.

"Yeah." I lied. She smiled.

"That's good." Elizabeth pulled out of my arms. "Where are Will and Fi?"

"They're asleep on the couch."

"Oh. Where are you going to sleep?"

"I was planning not to."

"Come on Luke." Elizabeth scooted over and patted the spot next to her.

"Won't it be a little weird? You know, being brother and sister?"

"No, I don't plan on falling asleep again so we can just talk." Elizabeth smiled sweetly. I shrugged and sat down on the bed. We started talking and I don't know how long we talked but the last thing I remembered was her crying from laughing so hard.

I woke up to Fi shaking me awake. Elizabeth wasn't there.

"Where's Elizabeth?" I immediately asked.

"She's with Will getting breakfast for the four us. We're going to eat here and then we are going to go back to Camp Half- Blood." Fi explained. I nodded and got out of bed. Elizabeth and Will came back with a pack of a dozen kolaches. If you don't know what kolaches are, they are well, like hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls and they are amazingly delicious! We each ate three and then went to the truck. I remember falling asleep and waking up to the stopping of Luke's truck at the camp's parking lot. I was home.

We got out of the car and walked to the infirmary where Argus was standing guard. Elizabeth waved at Argus. Will told Argus we needed to see Chiron and that's exactly what Argus did. Chiron came immediately, bandaged Elizabeth up some more, and then sent us all off to bed. We were to explain everything in the morning.

**Elizabeth's POV**

Okay, so after everything was explained to Chiron and all that "fun" stuff was taken care of, we went back to our normal schedule. I couldn't do any strenuous work for two weeks because I apparently had a major concussion. At first, it was driving me mad not being able to do anything, but later, it gave me time to collect all my thoughts and think things through. So, here are all the things that went through my mind:

Andy- How could he have died? I couldn't believe it! I had nightmares about him and he was alive and was being tortured by the Cyclopes… because of me.

My Father- I still don't believe he is Hermes but I'm so pissed at him because he _lied_ to me about who he was. He said he _wasn't_ Hermes, and yet when I put all the pieces in my mind together, it makes perfect sense that I'm his daughter, except for the fact that I don't like to steal things (or as Connor and Travis put it, borrowing without asking).

Luke- I fell for Luke hard. I may have acted all nonchalant about it when he said he was fine with us being just friends and all but inside I wanted to scream, go find a punching bag, and beat it to a pulp, then find another punching bag and repeat the process.

Will- He wasn't the same after the quest. He was so sad after it and I had a feeling it was because of me. In fact, I knew it was because of me because he told me that if he had just held me back from running off into the woods, I would never have been hurt.

Luke… again.

My life is so screwed up.

Anyway, there was a new camper here and he got claimed his very first night (lucky duck). His name is Charles Beckendwarf… wait, no, Becken_dorf_ (sorry Beckendorf- I don't know how I screwed that up because he's no dwarf, not by a long shot). He preferred to be called Charlie and he was the son of Hephaestus. I have never seen someone work so quickly with their hands. It's unbelievable!

Well, that about covers my summer.

Ooh, one more thing! The bead design! It was of the lake and it had little canoes on it too because we had the most E-P-I-C canoe race ever! I'm not sure how canoeing can be epic but it was- it was something where you had to be there to find how epic it was.

I packed my bags and after saying bye to Luke and Will and Fi and a few others, I headed home, with Argus driving me to the airport.

**That's the end of Summer II, and I will have the next chapter up ASAP!**


	13. CHP 13: Surprise!

**So this chapter is before the summer, it has one thing that you will need to know in the future, so that's why I wrote it.**

Chapter 13: Surprise!

**Elizabeth's POV**

I couldn't believe it! I was turning six freaking teen! I already had my car too! It was a silver Audi TT and so adorable. Technically, my birthday was on Monday but I was celebrating it today. It was Saturday and I knew my parents had been hiding something from me. I was having a party with my closest friends: Jace, Alec, Isabelle, Simon and Clary. Jace is a six-foot-one blonde with tawny colored eyes and almost everything he says is sarcastic. Alec is just as tall, but instead he has black hair and electric blue eyes. He is eighteen and will be heading off to college next year. Isabelle was Alec's younger sister. She is sixteen with long black hair and blue eyes, but not like Alec's electric blue. Her eyes are more baby blue. She is shorter than me, but not by much. Simon is about an inch shorter than Jace and Alec. He has brown hair and brown eyes with glasses that he always manages to break. Lastly is Clary, who is also sixteen. She has curly red hair and bright green eyes. Like me, Clary loved to read and write.

Anyway, so I had put on my blue bikini (just in case we went swimming) and I was half-way done curling my hair when the doorbell rings. I ran down the stairs and opened the door. Clary and Simon were there with presents in hand.

"Hey guys! Come on in," I moved over and let them in. "Hey, I just have to finish curling my hair."

"Happy Birthday!" Clary and Simon laughed as they hugged me. I thanked them with a grin as we headed up the stairs. I went back to my curling iron and we watched NCIS. Finally, after ten more minutes trying to tame my hair (that I swear has a mind of its own), I sat down and watched TV with Clary and Simon. I had just leaned back when the doorbell rang. Of course. I ran down the stairs (again) and opened the door to find Jace, Alec and Isabelle.

"Hey guys!"

"And girl!" Isabelle said indignantly.

"And girl," I laughed. I let them in and after they each gave me a hug, we went to the kitchen.

**Jace's POV**

Okay, Elizabeth's house is seriously huge. It has three levels. The first level has kitchen, a living room, a library that is two stories, a huge office and a mudroom. The second level has six bedrooms, each with its own personal bathroom (full-size), and a loft. The basement, which is the third level (technically), has a game room with pinball, air hockey, pool, and other countless games. It also had a workout room, a miniature theater, and a kitchen. Elizabeth's father was the owner of a huge company. I'm not sure what the company did but it sure made a lot of money.

**Elizabeth's POV**

"What do y'all want to eat? We have hamburgers, hot dogs, chips…" I rattled off some more food items. Clary and Isabelle wanted a hamburger, I wanted two hot dogs, and the guys wanted a hamburger and two hot dogs (they are bottomless pits!).

We went outside after I had written everything down.

"How about we play some football?" I suggested. Everyone agreed because we were all football fans. I had Jace and Isabelle on my team, and then Alec, Simon, and Clary were on the opposite team. My yard was huge and we had 15 acres. My team was awesome. Jace and I switched off as quarterback and running back. The score was tied at seven-seven, and we were on the offensive.

"Izzy, I'm going to fake a throw. Elizabeth, run behind me as I finish with the pass and I will hand it to you, got it?" Jace said.

"Crystal clear," I replied. We broke out of the huddle and started playing. Jace faked a throw to Isabel as I ran behind him. He held the football behind is back so that I could grab it. Once it was in my hands, I bolted. Nothing could catch me now. I was a bullet and I had left the defenders in the dust. I scored a touchdown and my team won. Jace, Isabel and I were cheering and I threw a perfect spiral to Jace.

"Nice throw, Elizabeth," Someone said. I recognized the voice, but it couldn't be… he couldn't be here. I turned around and saw Luke grinning at me along with Fi and Will. Naturally, I screamed… with delight of course. I tackled Luke and he laughed.

"Nice to see you, too," Luke said. I let go of him and tackled Fi and Will.

"Happy Birthday Elizabeth!" They said at the same time. My parents winked at me from the driveway. This had been my surprise.

"Nice house," Will complimented.

"Uh, thanks. Come on, let's go swimming," I suggested, trying to avoid the subject of my house. I knew it was big and sometimes I didn't like living in such a big house.

"Who are they?" Jace inquired. I made quick introductions before we headed to the pool. I pulled off my shirt and shorts (I had my bathing suit already on) and everyone jumped in the pool at the same time. We played water volleyball, tossed the football, and then all got on floats and attempted to push each other over. After three hours of being in the pool, we were exhausted so we all got onto the floats. We had to share them because there were only six. I shared one with Jace, Isabelle shared one with Simon (they were dating), Fi and Will shared one, and Luke, Clary and Alec had their own. We all just let the floats drift lazily on the pool while we talked. When the clock outside told me it was two, everyone got out and dried off before we headed into the house to eat lunch and cake and to open presents. Everything was amazingly delicious! The cake was three-tiered with chocolate on the bottom, marble in the middle, and vanilla on top. It was so cool! Finally, it was time to open presents. Isabelle got me a leopard Snuggie, just like Snookie from Jersey Shore which made me laugh. Jace got me a pillow pet because he knew I wanted one. He got me the dolphin and I named it Ronnie. If you're wondering why I named it Ronnie, I named him Ronnie because Ronnie from Jersey Shore has a laugh that sounds like "a dolphin on steroids" (according to Mike the Situation). Clary drew me the most beautiful picture (she's an amazing artist- I'm so jealous! My cows look like whales… thought that was a fact you would like to know). Simon bought me the _House of Night_ book series because he knew how obsessed I was with them. Alec got me the NCIS Season 1,2,3,4, and 5. Both of us loved that TV show! Will got me the cutest jacket from Buckle; it was black leather and it fit my body like a glove making me look super slim (thanks Will!). Fi got me a pair of to-die-for boots and even better was that they were stilettos (Love ya Fi!). Lastly was Luke's present. It was about a foot long and about three or four inches high. I unwrapped the present and there were two boxes! I opened the first one and saw a line of beads for my Pandora bracelet. They were all the ones I wanted too! I opened the second box and the sight took my breath away. It was a silver chain with an amethyst set in the middle of a silver heart.

"Luke, it's beautiful!" I exclaimed, hugging him. Luke smiled. I put the necklace on and put all my presents carefully in a bag so I could carry them up to my room. We trudged up the stairs, all laughing and talking over one another.

"I say we watch NCIS," I said. Everyone agreed so after I dropped my stuff off in my room, I grabbed NCIS Season 1 and we practically ran downstairs to the basement and to the miniature theater.

"Jace! Put the disc in!" I tossed the case to Jace who deftly caught it. I went to the popcorn machine and well, made some popcorn. And a lot of it! Everyone came over and grabbed buckets for their popcorn. Then we sat down and watched NCIS for two straight hours.

"Elizabeth, we should really get going. We promised our parents we would be home by five," Alec sighed.

"Okay. Thank you so much for the gifts!" I said, standing up. I walked over and gave Alec, Isabelle, and Jace a hug. Once they had left, I sat back down on the floor with Luke, Will and Fi.

"So, is Jace single?" Fi grinned.

"Yes, actually, he is," I laughed. We talked for about an hour when my mom came down.

"Dinner is ready," She informed us. We leaped up and went up the stairs to the dining room. We were having roast beef, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding (it's some kind of pastry, not actual pudding) and carrots, all with gravy on top of it. We dug in once everyone had sat down. It was absolutely, amazingly delicious.

"Thank you for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Banks," Fi leaned back, putting a hand on her stomach. Luke and Will followed Fi's example. I also thanked my parents for the meal.

"I will show you to your rooms. Fi, you can room with Elizabeth or you can have your own room," My mom offered.

"Um, I'll room with Elizabeth. We have a lot of catching up to do," Fi answered. My mom smiled and showed Luke and Will to their rooms while I led Fi to mine.

"Your room is freaking awesome!" Fi exclaimed.

"Thanks," I smiled.

**Fi's POV**

Elizabeth was seriously loaded with money. You never would have guessed by the way she acted. Okay, maybe by her fashion sense because it was seriously great but she didn't act like she had a lot of money. In fact, I think she tried to hide it. Her room was a mixture of yellow and blue. Her wall color was a pale, bright yellow, while her bedspread was a pale turquoise color. The walls had pictures of places around the world: The Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Parthenon, the Coliseum, and the Louvre, just to name a few. You name any famous landmark, and most likely, Elizabeth had it up on her walls. She also had pictures of her and her friends. They were at football games, basketball games, hockey games, and on field trips with her school. However, the biggest one was of Elizabeth, me, Luke, and Will at camp. We were all laughing in the photo. I remembered that photo. It was the first summer Elizabeth had come to camp. I was broken out of my reverie when Elizabeth waved a hand in front of my face.

"Earth to Fi!" She laughed. I grinned. Elizabeth explained where I would be sleeping and whatnot. I was sleeping on the floor and so was she.

We got in our PJ's and Elizabeth asked me if I wanted some cake. I instantly agreed. When we went out into the hall, Elizabeth knocked on Will's bedroom door. He came out in flannel bottoms and… no shirt. Holy… Shitake… without the "ake." He had a _very_ defined eight-pack and his blue eyes went from Elizabeth to me. Unlike Elizabeth, whose hair was always perfect and she always looked perfect, I looked like crap. My hair was a mess and I had washed off all my makeup. I'm such an idiot. He smiled sweetly at me and my legs felt like Jell-o.

"Hey, we'll going to eat some cake, want to come?" Elizabeth asked like she didn't care how hot Will was… oh, wait, I forgot, Will is her half-brother. Whoops.

"Yeah, let me just take care of a few things. I'll meet you down there," Will replied; Elizabeth simply said "OK," and went to Luke's room. He also was shirtless. What was with guys sleeping shirtless? You know what, don't answer that. Forget I said that. Luke was just as fine, no as _damn_ fine, as Will. I realized that most of the Hermes boys were hotter than the sun (that's a bad cliché coming from the daughter of Apollo, since my dad is the god of the sun… sorry, I'm rambling).

"Hey, Fi and I are going to get some cake. You want to come?"

"Sure," Luke grinned. "I never pass up on cake."

Elizabeth laughed and Luke hurried and went to put a shirt on. We went downstairs and Will came down a few seconds later. Each of us cut a huge piece for ourselves and we were still so full from dinner that it took us forever to finish it. Finally, at midnight, we quietly put our dishes in the sink and tiptoed upstairs so we wouldn't wake up Mr. and Mrs. Banks. We said good night to the boys and went to Elizabeth's room. She and I talked until two in the morning while we watched _The Outsiders_ and drooled over the hot guys (Sodapop, Dallas, and Ponyboy) while painting our toes and nails and creating new hair styles. It was three in the morning by the time we actually considered going to bed, and once my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light.

**Elizabeth's POV**

The night before school started, I had the worst nightmare I had ever had.

"_This is your last chance to join me. Join me, or he will die," The voice said._

"_No!" I screamed. My dream changed and I was yelling and screaming. My voice went hoarse from screaming for him to get out of the way._

"_Last chance," the voice purred._

"_Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" I sobbed._

I bolted up and looked at Fi, who was still sleeping soundlessly, while Luke was kneeling beside me with a worried look.

"Nightmare?" Luke whispered.

"You could say that," I muttered. My hair was sticking to the back of my neck. "Was I screaming?"

"No, I was on my way downstairs to get some water and I heard you whimpering and I came in to make sure you were okay," Luke explained quietly, absently moving a piece of hair out of my eyes and tucking it behind my ear. His touch made me shiver. "What were you dreaming about?"

"Nothing," I said quietly.

"You know you can always talk to me, right?"

"Yeah, I know," I smiled. "You should go back to bed; you're going to have to wake up really early."

"I guess," Luke shrugged. "Night."

"Night," I said. Pause. "Hey, Luke?"

"Hmm?" He turned around.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Oh, and I didn't want to say this in front of your mundane friends but your necklace, if you press the amethyst, I'll come running," Luke said.

"What do you mean?" I inquired, confused.

"I'm going to go downstairs. Press it at some random time, don't let me know that you're pressing it," Luke ordered me.

"Okay," I answered hesitantly. Luke went out the door and down the stairs. I waited exactly three minutes before I pressed it. Sure enough, Luke was back in my room in less than ten seconds.

"What in Hades' name did you do to my necklace?" I asked wondrously.

"I had that new kid, Beckendorf, make it. If you press that amethyst, it will alert me from this bead on my necklace from camp."

"It's amazing!"

"Thanks. Well, I guess I better go to bed, you too. You're the one that has to go to school," Luke grinned.

"Oh, shut up," I mumbled, smirking at him.

"Any time," Luke said good night one more time before he left my room.

The next day, Fi, Luke and Will had to go back to camp and I had to go to school (sigh). We said our goodbyes and while my dad drove me to school, my mom drove the three of them to the airport. I was going to miss them. They were my best friends. If I ever had a problem, I talked to them. Not Jace, not Isabelle, not Alec, not Clary, not Simon, not my parents. I went to them. The summer couldn't come quick enough.


	14. CHP 14: My First Quest

**Okey dokey, here's the next chapter, the beginning of Elizabeth's third summer!**

Chapter 14: My First Quest

**Elizabeth's POV**

"Fi!" I yelled gleefully as I raced towards my best friend. She yelped at the sight of me and we hugged. "How are you?"

"I'm great! How are you?" She asked excitedly.

"Great!"

"Hey, Elizabeth!" Someone picked me up.

"Will! Put me down!" I laughed. Will put me down and I turned around to hug him. It was a shame that he was my brother… no! I can't think of that!

"Hey, Elizabeth!" I heard Luke shout. I knew his voice from anywhere. I loved the sound of it. It was as calming to me as the lull of the ocean's lapping and crashing of the waves. No! I can't think about how much I like his voice! Crap! Hermes! Why am I your daughter?

Anyway…

"Hey, Luke!" I replied, hugging him. He smelled of cologne and it smelled delicious (crap, I just had to think that).

"You're wearing my necklace," Luke pointed out smiling.

"I never take it off," I said, absent-mindedly moving my hand to hold on to the delicate silver heart. The four of us walked to Cabin Eleven and talked while I unpacked my things. Once I was done, we went for a walk in the woods, met a wood nymph named Juniper, who was super sweet, and I fell walking _up_ a hill, not _down_, _up_! How do you fall going _up_ a hill? Well, I obviously can pull it off.

A few weeks went by and I had most of my classes with Luke and Fi. Will was an instructor so if I received a quest, he couldn't come, much to my disappointment. I was working in the sword fighting arena when Chiron came to get me.

"Elizabeth, come with me. It is time you went on a quest," Chiron informed me. I heard Will make a sharp inhale but I ignored it. I was ready to go on my _own_ quest! I followed Chiron to the Big House, where he told me to go up to the attic and to ask what I was supposed to do. Walking up the stairs to the attic was kind of creepy. Okay, dang creepy. I opened the hatch to the attic and stepped in. Trophies were littered all over the place and stacked into piles that threatened to create an avalanche and bury me for eternity. The Oracle was sitting on a stool, with a hippie t-shirt on and beads in her hair. Okay, to tell you the truth, the mummy that wasn't really a mummy was giving me the creeps. I stepped up hesitantly in front of it and cleared my throat.

"Um, hi," I started out brilliantly. "What is my quest?"

Green mist poured from her mouth and her voice rang through my head:

_A life once thought to be lost_

_Now being held in frost_

_Gift given shall be a key_

_To let the captive free_

_A link unknown to be held_

_New bond will be weld_

The voice disappeared and so did the green mist. The Oracle closed her mouth and it looked like it had never opened at all. I rubbed my head before heading downstairs. I had a serious headache. I went to Chiron, who was playing pinochle with Mr. D.

"What did it say?" Chiron asked immediately.

"_A life once thought to be lost/Now being held in frost/Gift given shall be a key/To let the captive free/A link unknown to be held/New bond will be weld_," I repeated.

"Hmm, that's interesting,"

"What does it mean 'a life once thought to be lost'? It makes no sense," I muttered.

"It shall make sense to you in due time. You shall first start your quest by choosing two people to go along with you."

"Luke and Fi, without a doubt," I said without hesitation.

"Very well. Alert them of your choice. You will begin you quest tomorrow at seven," Chiron ordered me. I nodded, bowed, and ran to tell Luke and Fi of our quest. Fi was all excited. Luke on the other hand, not so much.

"No, you shouldn't be leading a quest," Luke said.

"What? Luke, what in Hades name do you mean?" I was taken aback.

"I mean you're not ready. Elizabeth, you're a great fighter and all, but you're not ready to lead your own quest!" Luke answered with a grim face. I fought the urge cry. I cried more when I was frustrated than when I was scared. I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and then the words came to me. I knew what I was supposed to say.

"Luke, I am bringing you to guide me. I can't do this without you. You are much more experienced than I am at going on quests, and I need that experience to help me," I replied calmly, all my emotion flowing into my words. Luke's expression slowly changed.

"Okay, I'll go," He said. His whole tone had changed and he no longer looked like he wanted to chain me to a tree to keep me from going on my quest.

"Oh my freaking gods," Someone said. I turned to find this annoying Aphrodite girl named Drew standing behind us.

"What?" I inquired, not liking her expression. Luke looked equally confused.

"She can Charmspeak. She just used her ability to Charmspeak to convince you to go with her on your quest," Drew answered coolly, giving me an evil smile.

"Is that true Elizabeth?" Luke looked at me, not with anger, but with hurt.

"I… I didn't know I was… I didn't even know I could," I stammered out the sentence. I hadn't known I could Charmspeak. Only kids that were directly related to Aphrodite had that ability, and it was extremely rare. Drew was one the only kid at camp known to Charmspeak. Except now.

"We need to go talk to Chiron," Luke said, grabbing my hand.

"Hey, Luke! Have you ever realized that the thing you love the most is the thing you'll never have?" Drew shouted after us. Luke stopped. I had no clue what she meant.

"Drew, I frankly don't give a damn. As long as I'm close to what I want, I'm fine," Luke said gruffly, his gaze cold. Drew simply rolled her eyes at him and walked away.

"What the heck was that about?" I questioned with utter confusion.

"Nothing," Luke muttered. That was such a lie, but I knew not to push him. I knew Luke would talk when he was ready, but no sooner. I knew, I don't know how, but I did. It was freakishly like we were telepathic. We walked together in silence, but it wasn't awkward like most silences between a girl and a boy. We reached Chiron, who was once again, playing pinochle with Mr. D (because he's too lazy to do anything else… Mr. D, not Chiron).

"Chiron, uh, Elizabeth has something to tell you," Luke said in a voice that showed no emotion. He was good at that. Or at least it sounded like that to everyone else. I, however, could tell that his voice was filled with pain, confusion, and anger. Mostly anger.

"Yes, Ms. Banks?" Chiron put down his cards and stared intently at me. I swallowed.

"Um, I… I can Charmspeak," I spoke quietly. Chiron sat up quickly.

"What?"

"I've seen it sir; in fact, I was… influenced by it. It's strong with her," Luke stood up for me.

"When and why were you influenced by it?" Chiron asked. It was Luke's turn to swallow.

"Um… I wasn't really eager to have Elizabeth go on this quest. She was able to convince me to go with her ability to Charmspeak," Luke said quickly.

"I see. Well, this is quite interesting. You are definitely related to Aphrodite, that's for sure. Now, Luke, are you or are you not going?"

"I'm going, and not just because she was able to use her ability to Charmspeak to convince me to go along with her. Someone needs to keep her out of trouble," Luke grinned and nudged me. I smacked him on the arm.

"Good, now get packing. You leave tomorrow."

"Where are we going?"

"Ask your leader."

Luke turned to me.

"I don't know where we're supposed to go…yet," I added.

"You'll figure it out," Luke said assuredly. I couldn't believe that a few minutes ago, he had been telling me that I shouldn't go on the quest. Boys! And they think girls are hard to understand. Talk about the understatement of the year. I walked to the Hermes cabin and began to pack. I finished packing a small backpack. I ate dinner and Fi talked animatedly with me about the quest during the campfire. I listened but I really didn't talk much. When we were done with the campfire, I gladly went and changed into my jammies and went to bed. I was exhausted from trying to figure out who I was supposed to save. I fell asleep when my head hit the pillow and of course, a dream (a.k.a. a nightmare) followed almost immediately.

_I was in a lair and it was semi-pitch black. The only source of light was from the window high above me. I was in a warehouse; that much was obvious. I walked around, trying to find whatever I could to tell me where I was. That was when I saw him… strapped to a chair._

_His face was bloody. A long slash went across his cheek bone. I barely recognized him. He was even frailer than when I had last seen him, which was last summer. His hair was matted down and his eyes had a petrified look. His chocolate brown eyes that had made sure I didn't fall when my eyes had adjusted to the light when he opened my cell door._

"_Where are you?" I spoke quietly. He looked up at me._

"_In Canada. You abandoned me," He said._

"_I thought you were dead. My best friend told me you were dead. I believed him," I whispered, not believing he was alive._

"_He thought wrong."_

"_I am coming to get you. I was given a quest to come get you."_

"_No!" He shouted fiercely. "They're worse than the others."_

"_How?"_

"_I don't know. But they can freeze me up and then it takes days for me to thaw. I know I am near Niagara Falls. I can sometimes hear the roar of the waterfall."_

"_My friends are coming with me. I WILL rescue you. I thought you were dead once… I won't make that mistake again," I promised._

I instantly opened my eyes and knew exactly where to go and what I needed to do. I needed to go to Niagara Falls and rescue someone I thought to be dead. And that person was Andrew DiNozzo. Andy.


	15. CHP 15: Driving to Canada SUCKS!

**So, how did you like the fourteenth chapter? Sorry it took me so long to update the last chapter! Anyway, enjoy!**

Chapter 15: Driving to Canada… S.U.C.K.S

I fell back asleep after the dream but Andy kept haunting them. I couldn't talk to him in these dreams but he kept calling for me. I woke up at six and rubbed my eyes. Luke was still asleep. It made me guilty. What if he had only gone with me because of my Charmspeaking ability?

"You're worried about something. What's wrong?" Luke inquired quietly. I turned my head.

"How'd you know?" I chuckled without humor.

"You're biting your lip and you're staring at your bed sheets. What gives?" Luke propped himself up on his elbow.

"I know where we're supposed to go… kinda. But I'm wondering, are you going on this trip because you want to or because I used my Charmspeaking ability to influence to go?"

Luke looked at me curiously, sat up, stood up, sat down on my bed in front of me, and put his hands on my shoulders.

"I'm going because I want to, not because of your ability. It doesn't work on me. Okay, well, maybe a little. But I amgoing because I _want_ to, plus, I need to keep you out of trouble," Luke grinned. I smacked him on the arm.

"I can take care of myself thank you very much."

"You sure?"

"Yes, quite sure."

"We'll see," Luke's eyes looked mischievous.

"Oh shut up!" I whispered indignantly. I stood up and grabbed a pair of jeans, my Ugg Converse, and a tank top and went to the bathroom to change. Fi came in five minutes later, stumbling in groggily.

"Morning," She mumbled.

"Morning," I yawned. I am so not a morning person! I put on my outfit and went back to the Hermes cabin to grab my backpack any my Broncos jacket. Yes, I am a Denver Broncos fan and I would really rather not get into an argument about which football team is the best.

"Elizabeth," A person tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and found Will right in front of me.

"What's up Will?"

"I wanted to wish you good luck… and to take care of Fi for me." Will requested silently. So Will liked Fi. How did I not see that one coming?

"Will, do you like Fi?" I inquired.

"Yes, a lot. I really do. She, uh, has a knack for getting herself into trouble."

"Kind of like me."

"Yeah," Will laughed.

"I promise I'll take care of her. So will Luke."

"Luke will be too busy trying to protect you."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've seen the way he looks at you. He loves you Elizabeth; you can't deny it. You two may be brother and sister, but he loves you a lot," Will said quietly.

"He loves me like a sister, nothing else," I replied, but I knew what I said was a lie.

"I see. Take care," Will wrapped his arms around me and I returned the hug.

"Will, remember when I cried about Andy last summer because you said he was dead?" I asked curiously. Will pulled me away so he could look at me.

"Yeah, I… I couldn't forget. Why?"

"Um, he's not dead," I said quietly. Will paled at my statement.

"What do you mean? I couldn't see him breathing, he wouldn't respond to me. I… I left a ten year old kid there. I'm so stupid! The last line of my prophecy came true. Damn it! 'Caution shall make one stay bound.' I was too worried about getting to you before the Cyclopes found out we were there, and because of my caution, I left an innocent boy to suffer," Will sat down on my bed and buried his head in his hands. I sat down beside him and put my hand on his shoulder.

"It's not your fault. It was dark, you couldn't see much. Don't feel bad. We're going to get him. I promise," I assured him.

"Tell him I'm sorry when you get him. Tell him I wish I could reverse time and save him too," Will whispered. I told him I would. Slowly, I got up and walked away towards the entrance to Camp Half-Blood where Luke and Fi were waiting for me.

"You okay?" Luke questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We're going to Canada, did I tell you that?" I responded with a yawn.

"You told me you knew where to go, but you didn't actually tell me _where_,"

"Oh, well, we're going to Canada. Niagara Falls to be exact."

"Well, I think we should get going. It's not that short of a trip you know," Fi pointed out. Luke and I nodded in agreement and headed to his truck. I called shotgun and Luke got in the driver's seat. Fi took the back. I would've driven if I had my driver's license but… I didn't (sigh).

**Luke's POV**

Driving to Canada… in a truck… with two girls… that are best friends… that talk… nonstop…is…freaking…torture! I love Elizabeth and Fi, they're great, but they did not shut up for at least four hours. All they talked about were boys, books, boys, movies, boys _in_ movies and books, and places they want to go, which included how many cute guys they would meet. They're not boy crazy at all, are they?

Finally, Elizabeth started to doze off and Fi followed so I was in complete silence. Elizabeth muttered something, and it sounded suspiciously like cookie monster was stealing her cookie… again.

"Elizabeth," I shook her a little to wake her up. Surprisingly, she woke up pretty easily, but was a little disoriented at first.

"I didn't do it!" She said immediately. I laughed and she looked over at me, and innocently asking, "What?"

"Nothing. Hey, I'm stopping for gas. Do you need anything?"

"The bathroom!" Elizabeth exclaimed. Fi muttered something in the back.

"What did she just say?" I inquired.

"Something about Big Bird chasing her I think," Elizabeth giggled.

"What is it with girls and Sesame Street?"

"What do you mean?"

"You muttered something about Cookie Monster stealing your cookie, and that's not the first time either."

"Sorry, I love my cookies and I seriously don't know why he keeps popping up in my dreams," Elizabeth held up her hands.

"I believe you," I said, pulling into a gas station. Fi woke up when I stopped.

"How long have I been out?" Fi yawned.

"For about an hour," I answered. "I'll be right back."

**Fi's POV**

Elizabeth and I got out of the car and raced to the bathroom. We needed it like a rushing race horse! I got there first, much to Elizabeth's disappointment. Once we had both used the bathroom, we bought some candy and soda before heading out to the truck where Luke was waiting patiently for us. We hopped in and Elizabeth handed Luke his Skittles and Diet Dr. Pepper. She enjoyed a bag of Smarties and Diet Dr. Pepper, and I enjoyed Sour Skittles and a Diet Coke. We had about four more hours until we arrived at Niagara Falls so I decided to catch some more Z's.

**Luke's POV**

Elizabeth was zipping through that bag of Smarties causing her to be on a major sugar high. Of course, it was a good thing because she kept talking and that kept me awake while driving. It's not fun to be tired and driving. She was rambling on about some crazy conversation she had with a friend had in a library. I listened and laughed because it was truly funny. After about two hours of constant babble, Elizabeth dozed off. I drove through customs without a hassle (thanks to some manipulation of the mist) and drove to a hotel. I quietly got out of the car and went to check in. Again, after some manipulation of the mist, I was able to convince the desk clerk that we were given a room for free for as long as we wanted. I went back to the car where Elizabeth and Fi were still out. I opened Elizabeth's door first.

"Hey, Elizabeth, we're at out hotel. Wake up," I shook her a little. Her eyelids fluttered open and she blinked. "Hey, sleepyhead."

"Hi," She replied, blinking some more. I rubbed her head and opened the passenger door. I woke Fi up as I had woken up Elizabeth. Both of them are quite touchy when you wake them up from a nap (long story…). Fi and Elizabeth got out of the car and we walked into the hotel, into the elevator, and when the elevator reached the top floor, which was our floor, we walked to our room. There were three separate rooms. Two were right next to each other, and one was on the opposite end of the room. Fi decided she would take that one so Elizabeth and I had the rooms that were right next to each other. It was six o' clock and none of us feeling up to going out to get some dinner decided to order room service. We devoured the food and once we had all taken showers and had gotten ready for bed, we crashed. I fell asleep when my head hit the pillow. I had some whacked out dream about me getting into a fight with a seal, and sadly, the seal was winning. How that worked out, I have no idea. I was just about to get slapped by the seal when I woke up to the sound of Elizabeth yelling quietly in her sleep. I leaped out of bed and ran to her.

"Elizabeth, wake up! Wake up! Elizabeth!" I pleaded quietly, holding down her flailing arms because I had a feeling getting punched by her would be worse than getting slapped by that annoying seal. She bolted up and breathed heavily. "Elizabeth, are you okay?"

"No, the dream… it was awful…" Elizabeth closed her eyes, obviously trying not to cry but she couldn't help it. Tears rolled down her cheeks. I sat down on her bed and wrapped my arms around her. She cried quietly and I held her the whole time. I asked her what the dream was about but she refused to tell me. I wanted to know what had scared her so bad.

"It's just like the others except the voice isn't there," She murmured.

"What voice?" I asked.

"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me who they were."

"It's okay, you're okay."

Slowly, she stopped crying and relaxed. I looked at her and knew she was asleep. I laid her down gently and left to go to my room.

The next morning, I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and got dressed. Fi was already up, and eating breakfast.

"Hey, is Elizabeth up yet?" I inquired, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl.

"No, still asleep I think," Fi replied, for some reason trying to suppress a smile. I took a bite of the apple and yelled, "Ow!"

The apple was freaking fake.

"I'm going to go wake up Elizabeth," I muttered. I walked to Elizabeth's room to find her _not_ in her bed. She was huddled in a corner with the blankets wrapped around her. Her eyes were closed but tear streaks were dried onto her face.

"Elizabeth!" I yelled quietly, running over to her. "Elizabeth, are you okay?"

Her eyes opened and her hazel eyes looked at me with curiosity.

"Luke, why am I on the floor?"

"I don't know, why are you?"

"I wouldn't have asked you if I knew. I must have slept walk."

"Elizabeth, _what happened_?" I demanded quietly. I knew she was lying. "You never sleep walk."

"I… I had another night mare. I came to the corner because, well, I don't know, I felt safe. I didn't want to wake you up again."

"Elizabeth, I wish you would wake me up. I don't want you to be scared."

"Thanks. Help me up. I think my legs are asleep."

I lifted her up and she nearly collapsed but I caught her.

"I have no feeling in them at all," She laughed weakly. I lifted her up into my arms and laid her in her bed.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I inquired worriedly.

"I'm fine. Just don't tell Fi for me, okay? I already have everything planned on how we're going to rescue Andy."

"Okay."

I reluctantly left Elizabeth by herself and joined Fi at the table.


	16. CHP 16: Child of Athena

**I'm hoping that I can wrap up the end of this summer soon because it's **_**next **_**summer that's going to be fun to write! Thank you everyone so much for the reviews! I really appreciate them! Especially from the The Ice Within and 15Demigod15! :)**

Chapter 15: Child of Athena

**Elizabeth's POV**

Okay, that nightmare sucked! I flipping flying horse hate demigod dreams! Period. I went to join Luke and Fi at the dining table and caught Luke looking at me with a worried look in his eyes. I smiled sweetly at him to let him know I was okay, even though on the inside I felt like a 9.0 earthquake happened and I had been at the epicenter of it. Sitting down, I grabbed an apple from Fi's plate. I happened to glance over at the fake fruit in the middle of the table and saw bite marks on one of the apples.

"Why is there a bite mark on that apple?" I inquired curiously. Fi laughed and told me that Luke had tried to eat it. Luke looked sheepish.

"They make them look too damn real," He defended.

"Uh huh, sure," I grinned. Luke smirked at me. I finished the apple and went over the plan with the two of them. Once that was settled, we headed to Niagara Falls and into the tunnels underneath it where Andy was being held (I found that out in a dream). The three of us got in line and got our ponchos and headed into the tunnels. We followed the main tunnel until I came to the door that I knew would lead us to Andy. The three of us checked around us to make sure no security personnel was around before we opened the door. We slipped in quietly and followed the tunnel. I stumbled and felt Luke grab my arm, his grip sending a shockwave through my body. He let go of me when I regained my balance.

We trudged along, once in a while slipping on the slick floor. Our ponchos made too much noise so we took them off before we continued. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we arrived at another door, the door that would lead us to Andy.

"Okay, you know the plan," I whispered.

"I know it, doesn't necessarily mean I like it," Luke muttered. I rolled my eyes and opened the door slowly. I peeked in and seeing nothing, opened the door all the way. Luke came in behind me and went to the left. Fi followed and went to the right. I went forward, creeping along in the shadows. I rounded a corner and had to stifle a gasp. Andy was… in perfect shape? Okay, maybe not perfect because he was frozen in an ice block. Damn Hyperborean. I freaking hate them.

"Come to collect your prize?" A snarl came from behind me. I whipped around to find myself staring at a Hyperborean.

"He's not a prize, he's a boy named Andy. Let him go," I ordered. Amazingly, the Hyperborean started forward and was in the process of the unfreezing him when a female voice appeared.

"You fool! She was Charmspeaking!" The female Hyperborean hissed. The other one turned around and looked confused. Then he turned on me and tried to freeze me but was destroyed by Fi's arrow before he could even take in a breath. The female whirled around to meet Luke's sword. She died, plain and simple.

"That worked out well," I harrumphed in surprise.

"Yeah, you were about to be turned into a very large Popsicle," Luke said.

"And thanks to you and Fi, that didn't happen," I replied. Luke smiled with one side of his mouth upturned. We found a heat lamp and after about three hours, we unfroze Andy. He was just asleep, much to my relief. Luke lifted him up and we left quickly. It wasn't difficult retracing our steps. The only thing that was even remotely scary was that we all tripped over our ponchos. We kept moving and reached the door. I tried to open it but it was locked. I swore colorfully.

"What's wrong?" Fi asked.

"It's locked," I replied, pulling on the door.

"Here, hold him," Luke told me. I took Andy from Luke. Andy was scarily light. He was small but he shouldn't have been that light. Luke took the door handle and pushed the door open.

"After you ladies," He grinned.

"… Don't say a word," I mumbled. Luke laughed and held the door open. Luke took Andy from me as I led the way back up to the top.

Fresh warm air greeted us as we walked out into the open.

"My truck's over there. We kind of have a walk," Luke said grimly. We headed off in the direction of his truck.

"He's a child of Athena," I said quietly.

"Why do you say that?" Fi questioned.

"He has her eyes."

"Oh."

We continued walking and we were near the bench where you could sit down and watch Niagara Falls, well, fall. Something rammed into Fi sending her into the water. She screamed a loud, piercing scream.

"FI!" I screamed. Without even thinking about what I was about to do, I jumped in the water after her. I swam hurriedly to her and grabbed onto her. Together, we tried to fight against the strong, sweeping current that was steadily bringing us closer to the huge fall. My heart was hammering. I heard Luke yelling my name.

"Stay there! Keep watch over Andy!" I shouted back at him. I don't know if he heard me or not but he stayed where he was. I was about to shout it again when I realized I could use our Empathy link.

_Luke, stay where you are! You can't leave Andy!_

_No! You're going to die Elizabeth! I can't lose you!_

_I'm not going to die! I just have that feeling. Please Luke, stay where you are! _I begged him.

_I'll do it for you Elizabeth._

I sighed in relief when Fi's yelling entered my mind.

"ELIZABETH! THE WATERFALL!" She yelled with evident fear in her voice.

"Shoot," I said.

"We're about to effing die and you still won't cuss!"

"Fi, hold onto me! We're going to jump!" I ordered.

"WHAT?" She looked at me like I had gone crazy.

"Trust me!" I said. Fi grabbed on tightly to my arm and that's when my feet felt ground beneath them. It wasn't much but it was just enough to give me enough lift to avoid falling with the waterfall.

"HOLD ON!" I screamed. We reached the edge of the waterfall and with all my might, I leaped from the little ground underneath my feet and we flew into the air, far away from the waterfall and plummeted towards the water.


	17. CHP 17: I Take A Very Big Bath

**Okey doke, first, just so you know, I was completely swamped this week so if I took a long time to update, I apologize. Second, so, what I have planned is I will finish this summer up in two chapters I hope and then I am moving on to the next summer which will by far be the best!**

**Also, I never did mention this, but last summer, when Elizabeth was 15, she found a hidden tunnel on the side of the Poseidon cabin. She figured that out in a dream. I'm telling you this because you need to know about it in a future chapter. So yeah, ooh, and again, should I or should I not write about Elizabeth's time during the Titan War? **

**Okay, enough of my rambling, here's the next chapter.**

Chapter 17: I Take a Very Big Bath

The water was far below me, making me more than a little dizzy. Fi was screaming her head off and I was doing the same. What the hell had I been thinking jumping off Niagara Falls like that?

_Poseidon, please, please, please listen to me. Please make the fall okay and let us survive. It's not our time to go. It felt right to jump and now I'm praying to you to keep us safe. I will make a huge sacrifice to you when I get back to camp! PLEASE POSEIDON! _I pleaded. The water was fast approaching.

Fifty feet.

Forty feet.

Thirty feet.

Twenty feet.

Ten Feet.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Splash!

Fi and I plummeted into the water, but the impact didn't feel like concrete like everyone says it does. I was still holding onto Fi and we struggled to the surface. Fresh air greeted us and we took in breaths of air greedily.

"Fi, are-are you alright?" I sputtered. Fi was coughing and looked at me.

"Elizabeth, I'm not sure if I should thank you or kill you right now," Fi looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Seeing that we're alive, I should say you should be thanking me. Then again, thank Poseidon. I prayed to him, looks like he listened," I replied. "Come on, let's go to that platform thing over there."

The water was still pretty chilly for the summer time so Fi and I swam as quickly as we could. We finally reached the platform like thing and sat down, coughing up a storm. Some rescuers came and hauled us onto the boat. I was extremely tired and my heart was racing. I leaned back and closed my eyes.

**Luke's POV**

I was frantic. I could see that Elizabeth had leaned back and had closed her eyes. Fi was still coughing and even from up where I was standing, I could tell she was shivering. I ran to where the boat would dock. Carefully adjusting Andy, I ran as fast as I could. I reached the place right when the boat was docking. A man lifted Elizabeth up and headed towards a door which led to the infirmary. Another man lifted Fi and did the same. I followed worriedly after the two men. They wouldn't let me near Elizabeth and Fi until after two hours. When they did wake up, they were bombarded with questions.

"Why did you fall in the river?" A man name Jackson asked.

Fi replied weakly, "Something rammed into me and I lost my balance."

Jackson turned to Elizabeth.

"Why did you go in and save her?"

"I ran to the balcony to try and find her, slipped on something, lost my balance, and went in. That's when I went after her," Elizabeth answered calmly but tiredly. Jackson nodded, asked some more questions, and then left. Fi crashed immediately, but Elizabeth stayed somewhat conscious. Placing Andy in a chair, I walked over to Elizabeth.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"I've felt better. When I was in the water, I got this rush, and when I got out of it, I felt drained," She whispered.

"I can imagine you've felt better. You did just jump off of Niagara Falls."

"Yeah, me too. Not my brightest move."

"You did it to save a friend."

"He asked me to."

"Who?"

"Will."

"Why?"

"He loves her," She smiled at the thought of it and so did I. She always got a gleam in her eye whenever she talked about love.

"Does she love him?"

"Yes, she does."

Something made a small sound at the end of the room. We looked at the source of the sound to find Andy awake and rubbing his eyes. Elizabeth immediately stood up and walked over to him, but she was unsteady on her feet and I had to hold onto her so she wouldn't fall.

"How are you Andy?" Elizabeth asked kindly.

"Where am I?" Andy whispered nervously. "Is this a dream? Who's he?"

"No, this isn't a dream. This is Luke, he's my best friend. Right now you're in the Niagara Falls infirmary. I just took a very big bath," Elizabeth smiled. Andy smiled shyly.

"So what are you saying?" Andy inquired curiously.

"I'm saying that my friend was pushed into the water, I went in after her and we were dumped off of Niagara Falls, hence the very big bath."

"Are you okay?" Andy leapt up but swayed unsteadily. Elizabeth put a reassuring hand on him and had him sit back down.

"I'm fine, just worn out. If you don't mind, I'm going to get some rest before we head back to camp. Talk with Luke. He is a great guy."

"Okay," Andy shrugged. Elizabeth hugged Andy and went back to her bed where she sat down, leaned back, and closed her eyes.

"So, are you two dating?" Andy inquired.

"What? Oh, no. She's my sister, well, half-sister technically," I corrected myself.

"Who's your godly parent?"

"Hermes."

"That's awesome! He's so cool! I want some flying shoes!"

"I have some back at camp. When we get back there, I will let you try them on."

"Cool beans."

"So what do you like to do?"

"Everything! Well, except cleaning. That's a pain in the buttocks."

"I don't think I have ever heard a person say "a pain in the buttocks" before. I've heard butt, ass, bahookus, and other's I probably shouldn't mention, but never have I heard someone say buttocks. Where are you from?"

"Well, I'm originally from England, but my dad and I moved to Virginia when I was two."

"That would explain some of your vocabulary."

"Yeah- hey! Wait a minute!"

I laughed. "I was just kidding. So tell me, what is your favorite thing to do?"

"Have an adventure!"

"Well, then you certainly have had an adventure I would say."

"Yes, it wasn't that fun come to think about it but it was still an adventure."

I liked Andy more and more. He was happy and smart and loved life. I had a feeling he and I would get along just fine.

"Well, Andy, if you don't mind I'm going to get some sleep. I'm super tired," I yawned.

"Okay, I'm going to read some of these magazines," Andy said, already starting for the magazine rack. I smiled and closed my eyes.

**Andy's POV**

Luke had already fallen asleep by the time I sat down with a magazine in hand. I liked him. Most guys his age wouldn't give me the time of day. I opened up the magazine and started reading. I hadn't even realized what time it was when I was suddenly broken out of my reading-trance by pitiful whimpering. I looked up to see Elizabeth jerking violently. I was scared stiff. Elizabeth yelped and Luke bolted up and ran to her. He grabbed a hold of her hands and spoke soothingly to her. Elizabeth's eyes opened and she had a panicked look on her face.

"It's okay," Luke whispered, hugging her. I could see some tears falling down her cheeks but she made no sound. Elizabeth just buried her face into the crook of Luke's neck. Luke gently rocked her back and forth until he silently laid her back down on her bed. He brushed a piece of hair out of her face before heading back to his chair next to me.

"L-Luke? Is… is she okay?" I asked quietly.

"I'm not sure. She won't tell me what is in her dreams and it bugs the f-truck out of me," Luke muttered. "Are you okay?"

"It scared me a little," I admitted.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Luke assured me. "It still scares me and this isn't the first time."

"What do you mean?"

"This is about the fifth or sixth time this has happened. She never tells me what those dreams are about and it kills me not being able to help her," Luke mumbled, looking at Elizabeth.

"Listen, I may be ten and all, but I'm not blind. You like Elizabeth and don't try to deny it." I told him.

Luke laughed humorlessly and said, "That's a bit of an understatement."

I wasn't sure what he meant at that time and I had no idea how much of an understatement that was.


	18. CHP 18: Return Home

**Okay, I actually have nothing to say except that guinea pigs are awesome! (I'm watching G-Force…)**

Chapter 18: Return Home

The trip back to camp was uneventful thankfully. I sat in the back with Elizabeth while Fi and Luke sat in the front. We stopped twice, both times so we could use the bathroom and get a bite to eat. I could see Luke checking his rearview mirror periodically when Elizabeth was asleep.

I slept on the way there. It was a peaceful sleep for the first time in over a year. I enjoyed every second of it. We arrived at camp around five in the evening with a _centaur_ waiting for us. It was freaking awesome! His name was Chiron and he was pretty nice. A guy named Will came running up to us and hugged Fi and Elizabeth and high-fived Luke. He said hi to me and asked me how I was. I told him that I felt just perfect. Which, of course, was sarcastic. He laughed and then Chiron ordered us to come with him to the Big House, but telling Will to go back to his cabin, which I don't think Will liked too much. We followed him silently. When we walked in the door and sat down on some surprisingly comfy chairs, Chiron ordered Elizabeth to tell us what happened at Niagara Falls.

She explained it in detail.

"You jumped off from Niagara Falls?" Chiron asked incredulously. "And you survived?"

"Yes, sir," Elizabeth said.

"You must be highly favored by Poseidon," Chiron said. "Well, I'm sure you're all hungry. You all go eat dinner with the rest of the kids. I-"

He stopped short and stared at something above my head.

"I knew it," Elizabeth whispered. I looked above my head and saw a hologram like thing of an owl shimmering above my head. Naturally, I tried to swat it away.

"A child of Athena," Chiron said with a smile.

"Huh?" I inquired brilliantly.

"You know, for a child of Athena, he's not that bright," Luke grinned cockily, but I knew he was teasing me.

"I know more than you," I smiled slyly. Luke looked at me questioningly and I wondered what he possibly thought I knew that he didn't because I was pretty sure he knew much more than me.

"Well, everyone, I trust you to show Andy the ropes here," Chiron looked at Elizabeth.

"Yes sir," Elizabeth nodded her head and so did everyone else. The four of us stood up and left the Big House. We walked to a dining pavilion that was packed with kids.

"Andy, see all those blonde kids?" Elizabeth pointed to a table that was occupied completely by blonde kids.

"Hey, Annabeth!" Luke shouted. A girl turned her head, smiled, and ran over to us. Saying hi to all of us, a little hostile towards Elizabeth, she turned to Luke.

"Hi Luke! What's up?" Annabeth questioned.

"Annabeth, this is Andy. He is your half-brother. Would you mind showing him around?" Luke asked.

"Nope, not at all. Come on, Andy. I'll show you around," Annabeth motioned for me to follow her and I did.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I watched Andy trail after Annabeth. He was safe. Fi was safe. I was safe. And Luke was safe.

He hadn't known it but when we were at the Niagara Falls Infirmary, I had overheard their conversation about me and my dreams. I had scared Andy… and Luke. The last thing I heard was Andy saying that Luke liked me and Luke saying that that was a bit of an understatement. I knew Luke had thought I was asleep and that was the reason he had told Andy what he did. He never would have said that if he knew I was awake. I wasn't going to tell him I had overheard him. The only thing I wanted to do was to go to the Hermes Cabin, get into my bed, and go to sleep, which is exactly what I did.


	19. CHP 19: The Bad News

**Here it is! The final summer of **_**A Tale of Two Heroes**_**! I can't believe this summer is finally here! You will all be in for a few shocks (or hopefully you'll be shocked)!**

Chapter 19: The Bad News

**Luke's POV**

I was eating breakfast when my ring glowed. Elizabeth was calling me. She was already out of school and was supposed to arrive in two days. I wondered what she was calling me for… not that it bugged me. I loved talking to Elizabeth. I got up from the table and walked away until I was out of ear shot. Then I got out my cell phone and dialed Elizabeth's number. She picked up before the first ring finished.

"Hey Elizabeth, how are you?" I asked casually but then I immediately knew something was wrong. "Elizabeth? What's wrong?"

I heard a little sniffle at the other end and impatiently waited for her reply.

"M-my p-p-parents are…" Elizabeth sobbed. No, her parents couldn't be… they couldn't be… dead.

"Elizabeth, what happened?" I asked quietly.

"Car accident," She was able to say before going into another fit of hysterical crying.

"Elizabeth, I'm flying out there. Are you staying with anyone?"

"No, I'm staying at my house with a social worker," Elizabeth paused and chuckled weakly. "My grandmother's ability works wonders when I need it to."

"I'm flying out there today. I will get a ride to your house. Just sit tight. Everything will be okay!" I assured her. I heard her murmur okay and then after saying good-bye one more time, I hung up and raced to Chiron.

"Chiron! I need to fly out to see Elizabeth!" I exclaimed. Chiron looked at me confusedly.

"Why?" He asked.

"She needs me. Her parents… they just passed away. I just talked to her and she could barely talk because she was crying so hard. Please let me go!" I begged.

"I don't think I could stop you if I said no. Go pack your bags and I will go with you to the airport and make sure you get a flight," Chiron said. I thanked him profusely and then raced off to pack a bag.

I had my bag packed in ten minutes. I raced out and met Chiron at the entrance to camp. He was in his wheelchair. I followed him to the van and we got in. I drove and probably scared the hell out of him with the way I was driving. It was probably because Elizabeth was upset and so was I. I had met her parents before and they were so nice! They acted as if I was family, which technically, I guess I was. We made it to JKF Airport in record time and were at the check-out counter in less than five minutes if you can believe that, and I don't think you do. There was one flight that left in an hour, so I booked it and after saying bye to Chiron, I raced off to security. I had only my duffel bag which I packed everything in and surprisingly went through security without a hassle but not very quickly. I had ten minutes to get to my gate because going through security had taken so long. The plane was almost done boarding by the time I got there and I hurriedly got checked in. I took my seat and anxiously awaited my arrival to Denver International Airport.

I tried to sleep most of the way but I was so wired with worry for Elizabeth that I couldn't sleep. I tried watching TV but that didn't work either. My ADHD was acting up and it was bugging me. It wasn't like I could just get up and start pacing back and forth to keep me occupied. I fought the urge to yell in frustration and as patiently as I could, waited to land.

Finally, the plane landed and I bounded off the plane, receiving many dirty looks from passengers and I'm pretty sure I heard a few names called to me that I shouldn't repeat…

I raced to the train, leaped on, leaped off at baggage claim, ran to where I could get a taxi and waved one down.

"Where to?" The taxi driver asked pretty pleasantly. I told him where to go and told him to get there quickly.

"Yes sir."

I hopped in and the taxi driver drove off. I was glad he was driving so fast even if his driving was scaring the hell out of me. We arrived at Elizabeth's house very quickly; I paid him, and bounded up the steps to Elizabeth's house. I pressed the doorbell and waited. The door opened and a woman with a slick black bun opened the door.

"Are you Luke?" She asked kindly but firmly.

"Yes ma'am," I replied. She moved and allowed me to come inside. I set my bag down and asked, "Where is she?"

"She's in her room with her door locked. She refuses to come out and she's been crying for hours now," The woman looked at me with sadness. "I feel so badly for her. I've seen a lot of cases like this but never have I seen such a reaction as hers."

"It wasn't her real dad. Her real dad left when she was a baby. They were her only family," I told her. Her face showed absolute horror mixed with sadness.

"Why did he leave them?" She whispered.

"Same reason my dad left me," I said. "He was ordered too."

"Are you perhaps a demigod?" Her question caught me off guard.

"Um, yes ma'am."

"Then I understand. I am a demigod myself; a child of Demeter to be exact."

"Then you understand," I smiled weakly.

"Yes, all too much. I should let you go now. She needs you."

I bowed and raced up the stairs to Elizabeth's room. As the social worker said, Elizabeth's door was shut but when I tried to open it, it opened, it wasn't locked at all. Strange. I quietly stepped into her room and shut the door behind. Elizabeth was crying with heart-wrenching sobs. Her shirt was wet from her tears and her hair a mess. Mascara was smeared under her eyes which had dark circles under them.

"E-Elizabeth?" I said. She looked at me with eyes filled with hopelessness.

"Luke…" She whispered. Elizabeth stood up and ran to me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her. Her cries muffled since her head was buried into my chest. I gently lifted her up and carried her to her bed. I sat down and cradled her in my arms, letting her cry freely. I started to cry quietly myself for a while. It was around ten at night before she finally fell asleep. I had been there since seven. She had cried for _three hours_. Actually, longer because she had been crying before I had even gotten there so I really don't know how long she had been crying. It was around this time that the social worker came in.

"I'm glad she's finally resting," The social worker whispered.

"Me too. I've never seen her cry that much. I've never seen her cry much period."

"I'm guessing that you want to take her back to camp with you?"

"When she's stable enough, yes. Right now, she's broken. She needs time," I declared.

"I agree. It will be good for her to be around friends. I will allow for you to decide for her since she obviously trusts you," she said, looking at Elizabeth. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"What? No!" I exclaimed quietly. "She's my sister."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" The woman apologized quickly.

"It's all right; you're not the only person to have thought that."

"I see. Well let me know when you think she's ready, okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

The social worker left, leaving me alone with Elizabeth. I shut my eyes and contacted Elizabeth through our Empathy link. I started to realize that our Empathy link was different than others. Ours, we could contact each other when both of us were awake. It had happened before.

_Elizabeth was lying down in the middle of a field. I was in her dream. I walked up to her and lay down beside her._

"_Elizabeth, are you okay?"_

"_Luke, they can't be dead."_

"_It will be okay. You have me, you have Fi, you have Will, you have Andy, and you have everyone at camp. They're all worried about you. Even Mickey is, and you know how much of a conceited ass he is," I comforted her. She smiled weakly at me._

"_Thank you Luke. I'll remember that. Sorry I cried so much."_

"_Don't be. Cry as much as you need to. Um, the social worker has made it where I make the decisions of what you do, since I'm eighteen and technically an adult. So, I decided, when you're ready, to take you back to camp. I think it will be good for you to be around friends."_

"_Okay," Elizabeth agreed. Then we both held hands and stared up at the night sky in her dreams._

**So, how did you like it? Did I shock you? Because that was the intent. You will have to wait for the next chapter because I have just published three chapters in like three hours and I am W.O.R.N. O.U.T!**


	20. CHP 20: The Welcome Party

**No preamble this time, don't really have anything to say so… well, actually if there is no preamble, then why am I writing this? You know what, just ignore this whole thing and read the dang chapter because I am rambling (as usual).**

Chapter 20: The Welcome Party

Elizabeth and I left her house after two weeks. She was a wreck. She wanted to go back to camp in three days but apparently there were some things that she needed to be told. They told her that she would stay with her best friend Clary (the red-headed girl from Elizabeth's birthday party) during the school year and that she could go to any college she desired when it was time for her to go to college. Then her parent's will explained that Elizabeth was to inherit _everything_ when she was eighteen. That included the house, the cars, the estate in England, the estate in Maui, and the entire business. So Elizabeth was practically a billionaire, no joke. Why it took so long to explain all that, I don't know. Perhaps it was because Elizabeth was crying the whole time. She was finally packed and then we left for the airport. She barely spoke the whole way there and I had my arm around her the whole time, afraid that if I didn't support her, she would crumple to the floor from exhaustion.

We arrived at camp around five in the evening. Fi, Will, and Andy came running up to Elizabeth and hugged her fiercely.

"Elizabeth, I'm so sorry!" Fi exclaimed. It was obvious she had been crying too. Will looked extremely tired and even though Andy had never met Elizabeth's parents, he was a little red-eyed too.

"Come on; everyone's waiting for you," Will said as Fi put an arm around Elizabeth, who was already under my arm. Andy and Will walked in front of us while we walked to the dining pavilion.

"ELIZABETH!" Everyone screamed and Fi, Will, Andy and I had to hurry and back away before we could get trampled. Elizabeth was engulfed in a frenzy of friends, of people that cared about her. Even Mickey-the-Ass hugged her. The clamor eventually settled down and we went and sat down at our tables. Elizabeth ate more at dinner then than she had in the entire two weeks I had been with her. She was finally laughing, especially at Connor and Travis, who were up to their usual antics. The party came after and we sang and danced and told stories. It was around midnight before the party finally ended and everyone went stumbling into bed. Elizabeth's cell phone went off and she picked it up. Her face lit up even more.

"Alec!" She exclaimed. I could hear a muffled voice on the other end.

"I'm better thanks to my friends… yeah… I will… Thanks… yeah… love you too," Elizabeth said, and then hung up.

"Who was that?" I inquired casually.

"Alec, you met him at my birthday party. Um, he's my almost-boyfriend," She blushed.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that we are practically boyfriend and girlfriend, it just isn't official yet."

"Isn't he in college?"

"Yes."

"He's not too old for you?"

"Luke, he's two years older than me. It is fine," She assured me.

"Sorry, older brother protectiveness," I grinned. She smiled wryly back and then laid her head on her pillow and fell asleep.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I was distraught after what happened. It was unimaginable, indescribable, how upset I was. Although, after about four weeks, I was practically back to my normal self. I couldn't have done that though if I hadn't been around my friends. They helped me so much. However, the pain of me being an orphan never left and once in a while, I would go to the secret tunnel that was on a side of the Poseidon cabin, walk down it, and end up in a secret place that I still don't know where it is and cry my eyes out.

I quietly left the Hermes cabin. It was eleven and everyone was asleep. We had had a Fourth of July party and everyone was exhausted. I walked over to the Poseidon Cabin and tapped on a stone five times. The door slid noiselessly open and I stepped down the ladder and down into the dank tunnel. I opened the hatch and stepped onto soft grass. I shut the hatch and walked over to a spot in the grass. I plopped down and leaned back onto my back, looking up at the stars.

_Father?_ I thought, hoping he would reply.

_Yes daughter? _Came his quick reply.

_Why did you tell me you weren't Hermes when you are? Why did you lie to me?_

_WHAT? _He yelled. _Who the hell said that?_

_When I was being held by the Cyclopes, they told me that Luke was my brother. They said that you had lied to me._

_Don't listen to them. They're lying. I swear on the River Styx I am __NOT__ Hermes!_

_Then why did they say that?_

_They wanted to torture you and they knew how much Luke meant to you._

_That's cruel._

_I know; I am so sorry Elizabeth. I truly am. _His voice mirrored what he said; he truly was sorry.

"Hey Elizabeth," Luke's voice came sweet and soft and I jumped. "Did I scare you?"

"Yeah, a little," I admitted shyly, tucking a blond curl behind my ear.

"Sorry," Luke said, coming to sit down next to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just came up here to think." I shrugged. Luke nodded.

"So what's up?" We asked at the same time.

"You first," Luke nudged me.

"No, you. And if you refuse, I will use my kick-butt Charmspeaking power to influence you to go first, now go," I laughed. Luke held his hands up in surrender.

"I have a girlfriend," Luke smiled. My heart dropped but I didn't let it show on my face.

"Congratulations!" I exclaimed. "Who is it?"

"It's uh, Jamie," Luke said.

"Oh great, no offense Luke, but Jamie bugs the hell out of me, and I her."

"Why?"

"Long story," I muttered.

"When you say long story that usually means you don't want to talk about it. So what did you want to tell me?"

"I talked to my dad, my godly one."

"What?" Luke practically shouted. "What did Hermes talk to you about?"

"That's just it, it's not Hermes."

"Wait, what?" Luke looked at me shocked.

"I talked to him through my mind and the Cyclopes lied to me. My father swore on the River Styx that he wasn't Hermes."

"All this time… you and I thought we were brother and sister," Luke murmured.

"I probably just ruined your night," I said solemnly.

"Are you kidding? That's awesome! Because I know someone in the Hermes cabin who has the biggest crush on you and he is a child of Hermes himself so he is eligible," Luke grinned.

"Trust me, none of the guys here have a crush on me and the one I have a crush on is dating someone else," I shrugged.

"Oh, trust me. All the guys here have a crush on you. No offense, but you're kind of intimidating."

"How am I intimidating?"

"Well, you're the only person here who can whoop my butt at sword fighting, have a very decent aim at archery and well, you kind of, I don't know. It's kind of like you radiate power. On top of that, you're beautiful."

"The guys here may all have a crush on me, but not the one that I want to."

"Who do you like?" Luke questioned.

"I don't want to say. I really like him though, but he just sees me as a friend."

"I see. Hey, um, listen. I just got a quest today, I don't know where you were or else I would have told you sooner. Anyway, I want you to go on it with me. You're the best fighter at camp and you're smart," Luke turned his head to me and he whispered something else so soft I could barely hear him. "You're also beautiful."

"So I have to be beautiful to come on a quest with you?" It came out harsher than I meant it to and Luke looked generally hurt by my comment.

"It's not that, it's just you're smart _and_ pretty and we need someone who can Charmspeak, like you. You're the only person besides Drew who can do it and she gets on my last nerves. We _need _you, plus, I want you to come," Luke mumbled. I propped myself on my elbows.

"Who else is going?"

"The prophecy said four would go west and retrieve a golden apple from the Hesperides. I chose Derek Waltman, you and Jamie," Luke replied.

"Luke, you know my relationship with Jamie. We _hate_ each other. I told you what she did to me last year."

"No, what did she do?"

"She put itching powder in my covers. I couldn't stop itching for weeks! No, I refuse to go with her on the trip."

"Please, Elizabeth. I can't do this without you."

"Luke, why do you want me to go so badly? Is it something to do with the prophecy?" He was silent and that worried me. "Luke, what did the prophecy say?"

"_Four shall head to the garden of Hera,_

_Return with a trophy older than this era._

_Someone shall turn on the way,_

_Leaving the group astray._

_Life of a loved one you call a friend,_

_Her life in your hands may end."_

"_Life of a loved one you call a friend. Her life in your hands may end,_" I repeated, and I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking I was that friend. "Luke, I'm sure it's not what you think it is."

"I don't know what it means, but I can't lose you. I already lost Thalia and I almost lost Annabeth and Grover. I can't lose you…Especially you. You're my best friend. Please?" Luke begged. His face showed his true feelings. He was really worried about me. I knew he wouldn't let me out of his sight if I went on the quest with him.

"I'll go," I sighed. "For you."

"Thank you!" He breathed in relief and leaned over and hugged me. What had I gotten myself into? Jamie and I hated each other with a passion. She hated me because I was the closest to Luke, so she decided to get back at me by getting him to date her, I was sure of it because she knew it would put me over the edge. Jamie also hated me because I could kick her butt at every activity at camp (except the workshop, don't ask. All I will say is that I almost ended up fingerless and kind of had to evacuate the building).

"I swear, if Jamie does anything to me on this trip, I'm coming back to camp," I declared. Luke shot up like a bullet.

"Elizabeth, what if what you just said is the middle part of the prophecy?" Luke realized. I hadn't thought of it that way. "Elizabeth, you're the smart one on this quest and if you left then we wouldn't know what to do."

"Luke, Jamie is the smart one. She's a daughter of Athena. She always gets her way and she's smarter than me," I mumbled.

"She doesn't always get her way," Luke stated but obviously regretted it the moment he said it because I shot him a look that asked him to challenge me, and that wasn't a good thing.

"Yes she does," I told him fiercely.

"Why do you say that? She can't beat you at anything! She's a daughter of Athena and she can't beat you at sword fighting or archery or Pegasus flying. Okay, maybe at the workshop, but hey, she was born to design stuff. She certainly doesn't attract the guys like you do," He was trying to cheer me up, but he was making it worse.

"She got the one thing I wanted," I whispered so quietly that he couldn't hear, or at least I thought he couldn't.

"What was it?"

I stood up and walked over to the trap door. Luke grabbed my shoulder and asked me again. I looked down, trying not to cry.

"What is it?" he pushed.

"It's not an _it_, it's a _who_," I murmured.

"Then who is it? Who could she get that you couldn't? There's just no way in Hades name," Luke inquired. I just looked at him like I couldn't believe he hadn't figured it out yet.

"It doesn't matter. She has him and I don't," I mumbled. I turned around and opened the door and ran the mile long tunnel, away from Luke and to my warm bed. When I reached it, I plopped down and silently cried. I heard the door open and ceased my crying immediately. I heard Luke get into his bed and sigh deeply. I don't know if he knew yet or not but I guess he thought I was asleep because I heard him say ever so softly "How could I be so stupid?"


	21. CHP 21: Aunty Em's Emporium

**So did I shock you even more? I hope so! Anyway, not much I am going to ramble about so let's just get on with the story, shall we?**

Chapter 21: Aunty Em's Emporium

The next day, after Luke had to shake me awake because I had been so tired from the night before, we left to head to the garden of the Hesperides. We hadn't been in the car for more than two hours before all of us were hungry.

"How about we stop for something to eat?" Derek suggested. Our stomachs rumbled in agreement so I grabbed a GPS that Luke had "borrowed without asking" from the camp gift store. I pressed food (I was riding shot gun. Suck it Jamie!) and scrolled down through the food places when the smell of greasy, delicious food struck us.

"Oh my gods, we're so stopping here!" Derek laughed. Luke parked the truck outside of a place called _Aunty Em's Emporium._ Thank the gods I'm not dyslexic because the red neon color was already murder on my eyes. I hate red neon signs! We knocked on the door and patiently waited. Footsteps came faintly from behind the door. Then the door opened and I think we all took a step back. A woman in a turban and sunglasses, dressed in black from head-to-toe answered the door.

"Um, hi, Madame. We were wandering if you served food here?" Luke spoke cautiously.

"Oh, hello, children. Yes, I do serve food here. Come in, come in and I will fix you a mighty good meal. I'm Aunty Em," Aunty Em introduced herself. We said hello and walked in, thanking her as we walked in.

"Follow me," She ordered kindly, swiftly moving to the back of the building. Statues of people were everywhere. They were very detailed and defined. Most of them had very pleasant faces, although a few looked like the people were screaming.

"The faces are the hardest part to get," Aunty Em murmured. She put a hand on my shoulder and I instantly wanted to pull away, but I didn't. Something wasn't right. She steered me to the back of the restaurant where Derek, Luke, and Jamie were already sitting down in a booth. I sat down next to Luke (much to Jamie's annoyance, haha!) and we watched Aunty Em cook. All her movements were graceful and I was afraid that the fabric of the cloth she was wearing was going to catch on fire a few times, but it never did.

"Here you go darlings," Aunty Em handed each of us a basket with a hamburger and a bunch of fries. I should've been suspicious since _all_ of our hamburgers were exactly the way we liked them, but I didn't. We dug in ravenously. It was all delicious! We were all moaning in pain from eating too much… whoops. I was so tired that I barely heard Aunty Em ask Luke a question.

"So where are teenagers as young as you headed to Luke?" Aunty Em asked. That snapped me out of my little daze. We had never told her any of our names. There was no way she could've known our names.

"Hey, guys, we should get going. We have a long ride ahead of us," I urged, trying to Charmspeak them into listening to me.

"Oh, so soon? At least let me take your picture," Aunty Em purred.

"I'm sorry Aunty Em, but we really must be off. Thank you so much for the meal!" I said, desperately wanting to get out of there.

"Oh come on. What could one little picture hurt?" Jamie rolled her eyes at me. I wanted to slap that girl.

"Yes, Elizabeth, what could one picture hurt Elizabeth?" Aunty Em asked innocently.

"How do you know our names?" I inquired suspiciously. She seemed lost for words. Luke looked like he had been snapped out of a trace, so did Derek and Jamie.

"You shouldn't have said anything Elizabeth, it would've been much less terrifying," Aunty Em said.

"What would be a lot less terrifying?" Derek questioned with a look of suspicion on his face.

"Excuse me!" I yelled, getting out of my seat and barreling into Medusa.

"Elizabeth!" Jamie shrieked. "How the hell can you run into an old lady like that?"

"For the gods' sake Jamie! It's flipping Medusa!" I shouted at her. All the color from Jamie's face drained. "For the gods' sake! Run!"

We ran like bats out of hell. Unfortunately, we ran straight into her garden where there was no way out except back the way we came.

"Ah hell," I muttered. Aunty Em appeared and was in the process of unwrapping her turban. We scattered in different directions. I was running as quickly as I could but something made me trip and I crashed to the leave strewn dirt floor. I had had the wind knocked out of me and wasted precious time getting back up. By the time I was ready to get back up, it was too late. She was behind me and lifting me up. I shut my eyes tightly.

"Open your eyes, Elizabeth. Join me forever," Medusa purred.

"LUKE!" I screamed.

"Hush child! They can't hear you. They're already gone," Medusa said.

"No! They're not gone!" I declared fiercely.

"You're distraught child, I understand," Medusa told me calmly. The snakes that were her hair slithered into my hair and around my head. Some nipped at my face and I flinched, careful not to open my eyes.

_Luke! Please help me!_ I whispered to Luke urgently in my head.

"Heads up!" Someone shouted. Something slammed into Medusa, making her let go of me.

"Elizabeth, it's okay now. You're safe," Luke's voice came with relief flushing over me. I opened my eyes. I was breathing heavily.

"Thank you," I whispered, hugging him. I let go before Jamie appeared, sheathing her sword.

"Why the hell didn't you warn us sooner about her?" Jamie demanded.

"Perhaps because _you_, Jamie, were falling for her little act. "Oh come on. What could one little picture hurt?" I mimicked Jamie in a baby voice.

"Why didn't you just drag us out of there?"

"I tried you dingbat."

"Okay, let's get out of here before she awakes," Luke interfered in our argument. I muttered something similarly close to "mortar forker" and I saw Derek repress a grin. We quickly got in the truck and sped off towards the West Coast.


	22. CHP 22: Lotus Casino

**Sorry if it has taken a little while to get this chapter posted. My week was and still is super hectic so no rambling in this Author's Note.**

Chapter 22: Lotus Casino

**Jamie's POV**

Okay, after our little incident at Aunty Em's Emporium or whatever it was called and after we had booked it out of there, we headed towards the west again. I was in the front passenger seat with Luke driving. Elizabeth and Derek were in the backseat. Elizabeth was asleep and Derek was listening to his IPod. We didn't stop driving for a while. In fact, we didn't stop driving until we reached Vegas. It was switched between all of us and I personally liked it when I was in the back seat with Luke. It was very relaxing to lie on his shoulder with his arm around me and to know that Elizabeth hated every second of it. I don't know why I didn't like her. I just didn't. And she didn't like me. I was a year older than her and in fact, now that I think about it, she's the youngest person on this trip. Derek is a year older, and Luke, and I are the same age.

Anyway, so we finally reached Vegas and this was when we pulled up to the Lotus Casino. I should've known right then and there that it was odd people were going in but absolutely none were coming out. However, we needed a place to stay because we were bone-tired and we needed sleep badly.

Luke got out of the car and opened my door.

I opened Elizabeth's door. She had her hand resting on a necklace, a heart one with an amethyst in the middle. It was absolutely beautiful. Shaking my head, I said "Hey Lizzie, get up. We're stopping."

Her eyes opened and her look was like daggers because she hates it when people call her Lizzie or Liz. For a split second, I was scared of her. I had seen what she could do. She was practically unbeatable. Only Luke could beat her and even he had a hell of a time. Then the fear melted when Luke took a hold of my hand. I gave Elizabeth a smug look before we headed towards the welcoming doors of the Lotus Casino.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I wanted to smack Jamie so hard. She pissed me off so much you can't even imagine. I walked behind Luke and Jamie, who were hand-in-hand. I thought of starting to hit on Luke but I knew Luke too well; he was faithful to his girlfriend, no matter what. We walked in the massive glass doors and stopped short by the sight. There was an indoor roller coaster, slot machines, pinball machines and so on and so forth. You named it, they had it.

"This is flippin' awesome!" Derek laughed. I had to agree with him.

"Let's check in," Luke said, staring at a few of the waitresses that walked by him. I failed trying to hold back a giggle at the look on Jamie's face when she saw Luke looking at the waitresses. We checked in with an over-friendly clerk, and went to our room that was freaking amazing! There were four rooms right next to each other. I refused to have a room next to Jamie so it was decided that Derek would take the one on the far left, I would take the one next to him, Luke would take the room next to mine, and Jamie would take the last one. Our pillows had a platinum card on them with a handwritten note saying that these cards had no limit and were useful for everything in the hotel. I grinned at Luke and told him that if he needed me, I would be playing games downstairs.

"I'm joining you. Hey, do you guys want to go play some games downstairs?" Luke shouted to Jamie and Derek.

"Heck yeah!" Derek grinned. Jamie came running towards us with a smile on her face. We ran out of the room and down the stairs. _Stuck like Glue_ by Sugarland was playing and I immediately went to the dance floor. I had no idea where Luke and Jamie and Derek went but I would see them later.

I danced and danced and danced. I didn't know how long time had passed and I didn't care. A guy about twenty years old came up to me and started talking to me. He told me his name was Apollo.

"Apollo?" I asked with a smile. "How are you? I recognize that smile anywhere."

"I'm glad you remember me Elizabeth Banks. May I ask you to dance?" Apollo held out his hand to me and I took it willingly. He led me to the dance floor and he swept me off my feet by his amazing dancing skills. He leaned in and kissed me smack dab on the lips, leaving me a little more than breathless.

"What was that for?" I asked curiously with a smile.

"Couldn't resist. Sorry," He shrugged carelessly.

"Don't be," I replied, kissing him again. He kissed back before he reluctantly pulled away.

"I have to go beautiful," He whispered, cupping my face in one hand.

"Why?"

"Because my father doesn't like me being with you," Apollo said.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I love you," Apollo planted one last kiss on my lips before disappearing. I was almost sorry that he had to go… almost. I still didn't like Apollo the way I liked Luke… Luke. I hadn't even thought about him.

"Hey, can you sing?" A man asked. I turned around and said, "A little."

"Come with me," The man said, grabbing my hand. I followed him and he brought me to the backstage. "Change into whatever outfit you want."

"Um, okay," I managed to say. I looked through the racks and found the perfect outfit. A pair of dark denim short shorts, a black and white striped spaghetti-strap shirt, and a leather jacket. Along with some hot pink Converse, I was ready.

"Um, I'm ready. Now what?" I asked.

"Get ready to sing!" The man laughed. I looked at him bewilderedly but followed him onto the stage. Butterflies started fluttering in my stomach. I was nervous but I was having such a good time that I didn't care if I sucked majorly. I don't like the person who sang the first song I sung, but I chose "First" by Lindsay Lohan (don't like her). My voice was perfect, which surprised me because when I would recorded myself on my laptop one time, I sounded like crap. Anyway, I sung two more songs, _Better Than Revenge_ and _The Story of Us_, both by Taylor Swift and both taught to me by Apollo, and then I saw Luke, Jamie (Eww!) and Derek come running in. All of them seemed transfixed by what they saw. I went through two more songs before Jamie shook herself out of the trance and shook the boys out of theirs (more like she slapped them). They ran up to the front of the stage and when I was done with the song, they pulled me off of the stage. I was giggling and blushing from all the compliments I got from guys who were relatively cute.

"Elizabeth! Snap out of it!" Jamie shook my shoulders. I just laughed. Luke had Jamie step aside and he put his hands on my shoulders.

"There is a big hairy spider coming after you!" Luke told me. I immediately snapped out of it. My biggest fear was spiders. Put me up against a drakon, I can handle that. Put me up against a spider, well, be prepared for me to jump in your arms and to swear quite colorfully.

"Where?" I screamed, looking down at the floor.

"She's awake. Come on! We need to get out of here!" Derek yelled over the noise. We raced through the hotel and were about to exit when something big and hot slammed into me. I yelped and fell forward. I had a feeling that if I hadn't been wearing my jacket, I would have a serious burn. Jamie and Derek kept running but Luke spun around. He bounded over to me and helped me up.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked. He looked at my back and he put his hand where I had been hit. I gasped from the pain and nearly collapsed. Luke caught me and by this time, Jamie and Derek had come running back in.

"What did you do this time?" Jamie scolded. I was in too much pain to answer.

"She didn't do a thing! Something hit her," Luke shot back. Jamie looked taken aback and offended. She just pouted.

"Elizabeth, do you think you can walk of I help you?" Luke questioned worriedly. I nodded and with the help of Luke and Derek, I was able to painfully stand up. Jamie was giving me the death look but I didn't care. Something exploded near us and our heads turned to see what happened. There was a smoking hole in the wall. We turned to see who threw it and saw five guys grinning stupidly at us. They were Lastrygonians.

"_Damn!_" Derek mumbled. I took off my bracelet which was really my sword _Cyclone_ (I found out I could change it into whatever I wanted. Super cool huh?) and changed it into a sword. Luke put it down with his hand.

"You're in no condition to fight," Luke indicated to my back. I tried to argue but Luke wouldn't give in.

"If she wants to fight, let her fight," Jamie said. Luke gave her a murderous look.

"I won't let her fight. This is my quest and I say she needs to sit out of this fight," Luke declared. Jamie didn't argue although she looked like she wanted to smack Luke upside the head. Luke leaned me up against a wall and ran to join Jamie and Derek in the fight with the Lastrygonians. The battle started out well but then they started getting tired and the Lastrygonians got the upper hand. One of them smashed Derek in the stomach, sending him crashing into a poker table. He didn't get up for a few minutes. Jamie's right arm had been grazed by one of the fire balls the cannibals were throwing and was badly burned. Luke was doing okay but he was getting worn out quickly. He sliced through one of them and the Lastrygonian disintegrated. There were two left. _Cyclone _was still in my hands. If I got close enough, I could destroy the monster. Very slowly and _very, excruciatingly_ painfully, I got up and limped over to the fight. I ducked behind a table and waited for the Lastrygonian to back up near it. I summoned up all my strength and stood up and sliced through the monster in one clean swipe. Luke shook his head in disbelief at the sight of me with sword in hand, leaning against the table. Luke turned to go fight the other monster but it was gone, destroyed by Derek. Luke limped over to me. He had sprained his ankle.

"Luke, are you okay?" I questioned.

"Am I okay?" Luke looked at me like I was nuts.

"You're ankle is sprained," I said simply.

"Yeah, and you have a burnt back. Come on, we need to get out of here," Luke lifted me up and the world went black for a second, but I made myself move. Every step was painful and it seemed like forever before I was sitting down. Derek was chosen to drive since he was the oldest and Jamie knew where we needed to go so she rode shotgun. Luke stayed in the backseat with me to make sure I was okay. We made it to a different hotel off the Strip and while Derek and Jamie went in to get a suite that could hold four people, Luke stayed with me.

"How do you feel?" Luke asked.

"Like I just fell into a volcano," I mumbled. Luke smiled.

"When we get to the room, I'll bandage it up for you and I'll give you some ambrosia and nectar," Luke told me.

"Okay," I yawned and I passed out.

**Luke's POV**

I gently placed Elizabeth on the bed, trying to be careful of her back. I turned her over, carefully removed her jacket, and lifted the back of her shirt to assess the injury. It made me want to be sick. Her back had a bruise in a near perfect circle. It was black, blue, purple, green, and yellow. I had never seen anything like it.

"Derek, I need your help," I managed to say. Derek came to Elizabeth's room and his face paled. Even Jamie, who had also come in, had paled at the sight of Elizabeth's back.

"We need bandages and Castor Oil. Derek, can you go get those from the store?" Jamie ordered. Derek nodded and ran out of the room, grabbing my truck's keys on the way. I grabbed a chair and brought it to Elizabeth's bedside and slumped into it.

"Luke, she'll be okay. She's tough," Jamie tried to comfort me.

"Everyone has a limit Jamie, even Elizabeth. One day, she won't be tough enough and I'll… I'll lose her," I said as the thought struck home. I willed myself not to cry, even though it was damn near impossible; I _loved_ Elizabeth. I loved her more than anything else on Earth. I couldn't lose her. I _wouldn't_ lose her.

"She'll make it this time. I know she will because I've seen worse than this, if you can believe that."

"I hope you're right," I said quietly so I wouldn't wake Elizabeth up. The room was dark with only the curtains open, allowing the light of the moon to shed its silvery light over Elizabeth, illuminating her blonde hair to almost white. I hadn't realized that Jamie had left the room, leaving me alone with Elizabeth. I just looked at Elizabeth and the glint of the amethyst necklace I gave shimmered in the moonlight.

"Luke? Can I have something to drink?" Elizabeth whispered ever so softly. My eyes went to her face immediately and to find her looking at me with those big brown eyes.

"Thank the gods you're awake," I whispered.

"How's your ankle?" She asked. I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Elizabeth, you were just slammed into the back by a Lastrygonian fireball and you're wondering how my ankle is?"

"Yes. What? Was I supposed to be the damsel in distress going "Oh my back my back! The pain the pain!" She joked.

"Yes, you're _supposed_ to, but you never have been like most damsels in distress," I grinned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked defiantly, propping herself up on her elbows. Her face scrunched up and she shut her eyes tightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked quickly, putting my hand on her arm.

"Yeah, it just hurts like hell," She forced a smile, I could tell.

"Let me get you that water," I smiled back at her. I got up, grabbed a cup, and filled it with water. Then I brought it over to Elizabeth and helped her drink it.

"Thanks," She said. I set the cup down and sat back down in the chair. I heard the door open and saw Derek standing there.

"Hey Elizabeth, how are you feeling?" Derek questioned.

"I've had better days," Elizabeth joked. Derek smiled and came over to me with a bag from Walgreens in hand.

"Took me forever to find a Walgreens here, sorry," Derek apologized, setting the bag down on the nightstand.

"No problem. Thanks for getting it," I replied.

"Um, Elizabeth, I know this will be hard… and probably awkward, but you're going to need to stand up so I can wrap this bandage around you. I tried to find a bandage that I could tape on but they didn't have any so I had to get a wrap," Derek's face flushed in the moonlight.

"Where's Jamie?" I inquired.

"Asleep on the couch," Derek answered.

"Okay, I was just wondering," I told him.

"Elizabeth, we'll help you get up," Derek told her gently. Elizabeth nodded but some of the color had already drained out of her face. I put my hands under her arms and as carefully as I could, lifted her up to where she was standing. She didn't let out a whimper nor did she cry out. She just gripped my shoulders more tightly.

"Okay, I'm going to have to rub this Castor Oil on your bruise and I'm sure it's going to hurt like hell no matter how lightly I go over it," Derek said with sympathy in his voice. "I tried to heal it with my awesome daddy powers but it didn't help and I don't know why."

"Do what you have to do," Elizabeth whispered. Derek pulled out some cotton balls from the bag and then pulled out the Castor Oil. He put some Castor Oil on a cotton ball and very gently started rubbing the Castor Oil onto her back. Elizabeth let out a slight whimper but nothing more. Her grip on me was the only thing that changed. I held onto her elbows. Derek worked efficiently and he quickly wrapped the bandage around Elizabeth's torso. He pulled her shirt back down when he was done and left me alone with her. Her breathing was quick.

"Elizabeth, it's over," I whispered. Elizabeth slackened her grip on my shoulders. She nodded then sagged into my arms. I lifted her up and carried her over to the bed. I put her down gently and then sat down in my chair. I watched her for a while before I finally dozed off into a fitful sleep.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I woke up to a stabbing pain in my pack. I let out a small gasp from it, and then quickly shut my mouth. I refused to give into the pain. I looked over at the shape next to my bed. Luke was fast asleep in the chair. Sweat glistened on his forehead, making me vaguely wonder if he was okay.

"Elizabeth… Stop… Get out of the way!" Luke whispered urgently.

"Luke? I'm right here," I told him hesitantly.

"No!" Luke gasped, waking up immediately, shaking his head back and forth. "She's not dead, she's not dead, she's not dead."

"Luke!" I took his hand and held onto it, ignoring the screaming pain in my back. Luke looked at me with his crystal blue eyes with fear in them. "I'm not dead."

"Thank the gods!" He sighed, hugging me gently but firmly.

"Luke, what did you dream of?"

"That you died," He answered quietly, pulling out of the hug.

"Hey Luke, Hey Lizzie. Derek and I made breakfast so when you're ready, come and eat. Oh, and we have some ambrosia and nectar for you Elizabeth," Jamie informed us. I really hated it when she called me Lizzie and she knew it.

"Thanks, Jamie. I'm coming," Luke said, pulling away from me and walking towards Jamie. He greeted her with a quick kiss on the lips and then they walked to the dining room, hands intertwined. I watched as the boy that I had liked for so long went to the dining room with another girl. I decided right then and there that I was going back to camp. I was a hindrance to them. I couldn't fight, I could barely move without gasping in pain, and Luke would be constantly checking on me to make sure I was okay. Grabbing my phone, I went online with the hotel's free Wi-Fi and booked a plane ticket to New York for a three o' clock flight. I got dressed painfully, grabbed my backpack, and went to the dining room. It was exactly twelve o' clock, giving me three hours to break the news to them and to get to the airport. Jamie would be ecstatic that I would be leaving but she wouldn't show it. Derek would try and protest and Luke would strap me down before he would allow me to leave. How the hell was I going to do this?

"Earth to Lizzie!" Jamie waved a hand in front of my face.

"What?" I asked.

"We need you in this conversation," Jamie told me.

"Why do you need me in this conversation? I suck at creating plans, I can't fight because my back's jacked up, and you hate me," I fired back. Everyone stared at me like I had gone crazy.

"Elizabeth," Luke started to say something but I cut him off.

"Luke, I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I'm going back to New York whether you like it or not. I already booked my plane ticket and you can't stop me no matter what," I told him firmly. All the color in Luke's face drained.

"I won't let you," He said quietly, too calm for the expression his face showed. His face showed a defiance that would not let me leave.

"Luke, I'm leaving whether you like it or not. You know that I can't fight in this condition, you saw my back. I'm going to be a hindrance on this quest if I stay and you know it, don't try to deny it," I shot back.

"No! You're not leaving! That's final!" Luke shouted. Jamie and Derek were looking back and forth between us with shocked faces.

"It's too late for that Luke," I said, standing up. Ignoring the pain in back, I grabbed my backpack, and walked out of the hotel room without looking back. I reached the elevator and pressed the down button. Luck was on my side and the door instantly opened. I stepped in and pushed the Lobby button repeatedly until it closed. Luke was running down the hall and he reached the elevator door just as it closed shut and started moving downwards.

**Luke's POV**

I wasn't going to let her go. I couldn't. I raced down the four flights of stairs and to the lobby, just in time to see her blonde head exiting the hotel. I pushed past people and went outside. She was already gone. I hailed down a cab and told the cab driver to get to the airport fast.

**Elizabeth's POV**

_Gods, please prevent Luke from getting to me in time._ I prayed silently.

_I will Elizabeth_. Apollo answered.

Well, hell.

The taxi driver sped onwards and I was glad. A crash happened behind us and I knew Apollo had worked his magic. The cab finally reached the airport and after paying the guy, I walked to the check-in counter. I got my ticket, went through security and went to the gate. They were already starting to board so I was on the plane quickly. I took out my phone and called Alec.

"Alec?" I asked when he picked up the phone.

"Elizabeth! How are you? I've been worried about you! Is everything okay?" Alec inquired immediately.

"Yeah," I lied. "Everything's fine. Could you come pick me up at the airport in like five or six hours?"

"Of course."

"Thank you so much! Listen, I have to go, the cabin door shut. Bye!"

"Bye!"

I shut my phone off and closed my eyes.


	23. CHP 23: Comatose

**Sorry if this took a while to get up, hectic weekend. Well, no rambling this time. On with the story!**

Chapter 23: Comatose

**Luke's POV**

I reached Elizabeth's gate but it was too late. She had already gone. I leaned up against the wall and bowed my head. Part of the prophecy had come true. Sure, we all knew how to get to the Hesperides Garden, but we didn't know how to get in… and Elizabeth did. How could I have let her go? I had to finish this quest and soon so I could talk things out with Elizabeth.

**Elizabeth's POV**

The plane ride was long and so I slept the whole way. Alec was waiting for me when I arrived at baggage. He hugged me and whispered how glad he was to see me.

"Come on, let's get you to wherever you need to go," Alec smiled, taking a hold of my hand. We walked to his car in the parking lot. Alec, being a gentleman, opened my car door for me.

"Thanks Alec," I smiled at him. He shut the door and then got in himself.

"Where to?"

"Um, drop me off at Central Park."

"Are you meeting someone there?" Alec scrunched his eyebrows up as he backed his car out of the small parking space.

"No, I just like to go there to think."

"Oh, okay."

Alec started driving and we elapsed into a comfortable silence. The drive to Central Park was surprisingly short and I was secretly upset it didn't take longer.

"Here we are. Um, do you want some company while you think?" Alec looked a little bashful when he asked, which I found slightly amusing.

"I would love some," I replied. Alec broke into a grin and hopped out of the car. He ran to my side and opened my door for me. We walked hand in hand, just talking, nothing more. We finally stopped at a bench and we sat down.

"Elizabeth, um, I was wondering, would you like to go on a date one day this week?" Alec inquired.

"What?" I said, completely surprised.

"Would you like to go on a date with me one day this week?" Alec repeated.

"Um, yeah, I'd love to!" I answered happily.

"Great, how about not tomorrow but the day after?"

"Sure!"

"Alright, it's settled. Where do you want me to pick you up?"

"It's okay I'll-" I stopped short when I saw a Hydra standing ten feet away from us… and it was staring directly at me.

"Elizabeth?" Alec waved his hand in front of me. I ignored it. The Hydra's eyes gleamed at me. It reared back and shot acid at me.

"Duck!" I screamed. I pulled Alec to the ground as the acid shot over our heads and splattered onto a tree, disintegrating the bark.

"Elizabeth, what the hell is that?" Alec questioned with pure shock. I followed his line of gaze and he was staring directly at the Hydra.

"What do you see?" I asked, because he was human, and he was probably processing this as like Bigfoot or something.

"I- I see a Hydra… but those are just myths. All of those are myths," Alex said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Wait, you can see it as a Hydra?"

"Yeah, who wouldn't?"

"Alec, I'll explain all of this in the car but right now, I need a lighter."

"Borrow that homeless man's one."

"I'll be right back and don't let that acid hit you!"

"Wasn't planning on it," Alec muttered. I leapt off from the ground and ran over to the homeless man.

"Sorry, but I really, really need this!" I exclaimed, swiping the lighter out of his hand before he could protest.

"Alec! Distract it so I can get behind it," I ordered.

"Are you insane?"

"This is the only way we can get rid of it. I've been trained to fight in situations like these."

"Fine," Alec said, looking at me with his shocking blue eyes. He turned and shouted, "Hey stupid! Yeah, I called you stupid! You're a wuss! So what? I've seen monsters ten times scarier than you! I bet all other monsters fall over laughing at how stupid looking you are!"

His yelling worked too well. The Hydra completely forgot about me and shot acid at Alec. Alec leapt aside gracefully.

"Is that all you got you big oaf?" Alec bellowed, which made the Hydra even madder. Its back was turned to me and I used the homeless man's lighter and set the Hydra on fire. The monster screamed and disappeared into a cloud of smelly yellow powder. I waved some of it out of my face before running over to Alec who was bent over.

"Alec! Are you all right?" I put my hand on his back and tried to look at his face.

"I'm fine, just out of breath. Come on, let's get to the car."

We walked back to his car quickly (after I returned the lighter) and I told him to head to Long Island.

"So, I think that you have a lot of explaining to do," Alec declared. I nodded, took a deep breath, and dived into the whole story, telling him that the gods exist, so do the monsters, but you can't kill monsters because they don't have souls like us. They will reform sooner or later. Alec took the news pretty well.

"So, who's your godly parent?" Alec inquired curiously.

"I don't know. Not all of us are claimed," I replied, leaving out the fact that I had talked to my father before.

"Why?"

"Only you could ask the gods that."

"So does Mount Olympus really exist?"

"Yep, 600th floor of the Empire State Building. It's absolutely amazing!" I exclaimed, and then went into detail of Olympus.

"That sounds so awesome!" Alec laughed. We talked more on the way to camp. I finally saw Half-Blood Hill and told him to drop me off there.

"That's the Delphi Strawberry Company," Alec said.

"It is, but it is also the camp for demigods, like me. We train here to fight monsters and to survive."

Alec only nodded.

"Hey, one more thing," Alec took a hold of my hand.

"Hmm?" I asked, turning around.

"Come here," He tugged on my hand.

"Yeah?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He questioned. My eyes widened and I looked at him with a dazed stare.

"I would love to be!" I finally exclaimed. Alec let out a sigh, which I hoped was in relief. He broke into a grin and leaned over and kissed me. At first I was so shocked that I tensed, but a second later I was completely relaxed and kissing back. I reluctantly pulled away.

"I'll see you in two days," I whispered with a smile.

"I can't wait," Alec replied, cupping my cheek in one hand. He kissed me on the cheek and then let me go.

Let me just say, that my date with Alec was awesome! He brought me to this really old restaurant and we pigged out. It was a few days after that and we had just finished our second date, which had been at a casual place so I had worn some short shorts and a really cute top; we were driving back to camp. He finally reached the drop-off and we hugged each other goodbye. It had been so much fun! We kissed each other good-night and I got out. I walked towards Half-Blood Hill, having no idea what I was walking into until the shouts broke into my thoughts.

**Luke's POV**

"Elizabeth! Watch out!" I shouted frantically. Her head lifted and her eyes widened in shock? Horror? Disbelief? I don't know. She dodged the projectiles fired from the manticore in one single, graceful movement. I hadn't even seen her do it but _Cyclone_, her deadly sword, gleamed in her hand. Her expression was fierce, and she was egging the monsters that surrounded us. I counted the manticore, four sphinxes, and three Lastrygonians. Jamie, Derek, and I had destroyed two sphinxes and three Lastrygonians before Elizabeth got here. Her appearance distracted the monsters long enough for Jamie, Derek, and I to destroy a Lastrygonian, and two sphinxes. Jamie threw her dagger and the manticore, slicing clean through its neck. The manticore howled into a pile of dust. Elizabeth leapt into movement. She was a flashing figure that I couldn't even keep up with. She stabbed at sphinx and destroyed it, then dodged a fireball from a Lastrygonian. I snuck up behind a Lastrygonian that Jamie was trying to destroy. I killed it with one clean swipe through its torso. There was one sphinx and one Lastrygonian left. Derek made a quick kill of the sphinx that had no idea that he had crept up on them. I reached the Lastrygonian and killed it. All of us regrouped.

"Elizabeth, are you okay?" I asked, reaching for her. She waved away my hand.

"I'm fine. My back hurts a little but I'm-" She never finished her sentence. None of us had noticed the _drakon_ sneaking up behind her, for we had been all too busy bending over catching our breaths. The _drakon's _tail slammed into Elizabeth's back, sending her tumbling in the air and slamming her head into a tree.

"ELIZABETH!" I shouted. Jamie and Derek looked like ghosts as they stared at Elizabeth's broken body. "NO! NO! NO! NO!"

"Luke! Watch out!" Derek yelled. I had already seen it coming. I whirled my sword around and cut the tail clean off of the _drakon's___body. I ran up the back of the _drakon_ and stabbed towards its heart. The _drakon_ died instantly. I left my sword in the body and leapt off and bolted for Elizabeth's crumpled figure. I reached her and gently pulled her into my arms.

"Elizabeth! Oh, Elizabeth, please wake up! Please Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" I cried. She didn't respond. Blood covered the front of her face and I buried my head into the crook of her neck, with the feeling she was dead. I let the softness of her hair soak up the tears falling down my face; I let her pulse… her pulse? Her pulse! She was still alive! I lifted her gingerly and walked towards camp. Her head lolled back as I carried her into the camp's boundaries. Chiron came galloping towards me, along with a horde of kids. All of them had smiles on their faces… until they saw what I was carrying. I heard Fi, Will, and Andy call out Elizabeth's name in agony. They reached me first, even before Chiron. Will had to hold Fi back through his tears. Fi was in hysterics and Andy was pure white in the face. Will finally managed to get Fi into his arms and she cried against his chest. Jamie and Derek had their hands on my shoulders. The rest of the kids were a sea of ghosts. One by one, they all kneeled in front of me and bowed their heads; some of them were sobbing quietly.

"Luke, let me take her to the infirmary," Chiron said, holding out his arms.

"No! I'm taking her there!" I replied fiercely. Chiron looked taken aback.

"At least let me give you a ride there," Chiron said. I nodded, trying to hold back the urge to scream at everyone to get away from me, to leave me with Elizabeth. Will and Mickey (whom I snarled at) lifted me onto Chiron's back. I held onto Elizabeth as we raced to the infirmary. Chiron knelt down to let me off. I slid gently to the ground and followed Chiron into the infirmary. I laid her on the bed in the corner and then the ground came rushing to me.

**Will's POV**

I was in shock as I ran with Fi and Andy to the infirmary. I had ordered the other kids to go back to their cabins, much to their protest. The three of us reached the infirmary and fled in, just in time to see Luke collapse. We rushed over to him, all worried like hell about Elizabeth and Luke. I lifted Luke into the bed next to Elizabeth. I forced myself to look at her and nearly collapsed myself. Her face was covered in blood, her hair was matted with blood, and she looked deathly pale. Chiron started cleaning the blood off her face and bandaged her head. Luke had regained consciousness but he was unresponsive. He just got up, pulled up a chair, slid into it, and stared at the floor while biting his nail. We tried to get him to talk but he wouldn't say a thing. All he did was murmur "it was my fault" over and over again. Chiron made him take a drink and the drink knocked Luke out in a few minutes.

"Is she going to be all right?" I asked in a tight voice.

"She's stable, but her life is in the hands of the Fates. Even I cannot tell if she will survive this," Chiron said gravely. He had tears falling down his cheek.

"Oh gods," Fi murmured. Andy started crying silently and I pulled them into a hug. Fi had her face buried into her hands.

"Go get some sleep. You'll need it," Chiron ordered softly.

"We want to stay," I said, my voice cracking.

"You'll need the sleep if you are to help me tomorrow. We have to get Luke's story," Chiron said softly, glancing over at Luke, who was still sound asleep.

"What about Luke?"

"I will allow him to stay here. He will want to be with her, to protect her, even when the protection she needs is far from his grasp."

"Please, sir," I begged.

"No, go," Chiron ordered. I nodded. I gently led Fi and Andy from the infirmary and to the dining pavilion, where everyone was sitting down. Not a word was being spoken. When Fi's crying reached their ears, they all looked up expectantly at me, waiting for the verdict of Elizabeth's life.

Taking in a deep breath, I announced, "She… she m-might not m-make it."

I hated that my voice sounded weak. I heard sobs starting up and then a girl, who was obviously trying not to cry, asked, "What about Luke? How's he handling it?"

The girl was Annabeth Chase from the Athena cabin.

"He's in shock. Chiron had to give him an antidote to knock him," I replied quietly. Tears started flowing down Annabeth's cheeks and she wasn't the only one. I led Fi and Andy to their cabins and then went for a walk in the woods. I sat down when I was far away from the camp and cried. I cried for Elizabeth, I cried for Luke, I cried for the mother that didn't love me, I cried for Andy, and I cried for Fi. She was almost as bad off as Luke. Why Elizabeth? Of all people that this had to happen to her, it had to be her?

I slowly drifted off into a fitful sleep.

**Luke's POV**

_I was in a field and it was surrounded by trees. Something massive loomed overhead of me and I fled into the dense forest._

"_Come to me Luke," A voice called out to me._

"_Who are you?" I demanded, looking around._

"_Come to me and see. Help me rise, Luke, and I can promise you that Elizabeth will live."_

"_She's not going to die!"_

"_How do you know little one?"_

"_Because I'm going to help her come back."_

"_The power to bring her back is beyond your grasp. Only an immortal has that power. I have that power. Help me rise, and I will help you bring her back."_

_I would do anything for Elizabeth. Anything._

"_I'll help you; just help me bring back Elizabeth."_


	24. CHP 24: The Power of Dreams

**Well, after I was distracted by my hilarious friends, by Slumdog Millionaire, and by World's Dumbest, I finally started writing this chapter. I can't believe it! 34 countries reading my story= Mind. Blown! Haha, anyway, enjoy the chapter and please, please, please with a cherry on top review this chapter!**

Chapter 24: The Power of Dreams

**Elizabeth's POV**

I wasn't dead. That was all I knew. Wait, who am I? I'm Elizabeth Banks. That was scary. How could I forget who I was?

For the first time, I realized I was somewhere. I was in a forest next to a lake. The lake was beautiful and crystal clear. I could see my reflection in the water and it was flawless. Not a blemish or imperfection in sight. I touched my face gingerly… and I couldn't feel a thing. I couldn't feel the heat from my body, or the wind that blew gently through the trees. What was wrong with me? My heart started pounding. I was scared.

**Luke's POV**

I woke up with a start, breathing heavily. I had been dreaming. Elizabeth had never been hurt, we had never had the fight, we were still in the hotel and she was recuperating from the Lastrygonian fireball that had hit her in the back. I looked over and saw Elizabeth. At first look, she was alright. A second look brought all the memories. Her head was bandaged and she was tucked tightly in the sheets.

"Elizabeth," I moaned quietly. I knelt next to her bed and took a hold of her hand. It was ice cold. "Elizabeth, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, please listen."

**Elizabeth's POV**

"Elizabeth," Luke's voice came out of the trees. I turned around and ran into the forest.

"Luke!" I cried out. "Where are you?"

"Elizabeth, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, please listen."

"Luke, I can hear you! Where are you?"

"Elizabeth, I... I love you, more than anything in the world. I would do anything for you. Please, if I lost you, I wouldn't be able to live. I know that all this sounds corny but it's the truth. You _have _to wake up, it's not your time to go," Luke's voice sounded all around me and it was driving me insane that I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Suddenly, I felt warmth in my hand that I hadn't realized before.

"Luke! I hear you! Please, where are you?" I shouted. Then, as suddenly as the warmth had come, the warmth was gone, leaving me alone and confused. Engulfed with confusion, I sat down and cried.

**Luke's POV**

I felt quick warmth of her skin when I held it. It gave me hope that she could hear me. The voice in my head told me how to get her back. I released her hand and used my Empathy link with her to get to her. I knew I could do it.

I concentrated on Elizabeth, on getting into her mind. I recognized the pressure at first, it always happened when you used an Empathy link. But then the pressure increased and got greater until I couldn't bear it.

I gasped in pain and was kneeling on the floor.

"Luke?" Fi's familiar voice came from behind me.

"Fi, is everything okay?" I asked quietly, standing up.

"I'm worried about Will, I haven't seen him."

"He hasn't been here," I said.

"Listen, she'll wake up." Fi put her hand on my shoulder.

"I know. Thanks Fi," I smiled. She turned around and was about to open it when I called out her name. "Fi, do you want me to help look for him?"

"No, stay with Elizabeth. Help her wake up. I have a feeling she'll need you to wake up," Fi did a half smile and left the infirmary.

I sat next to her bed for I don't know how long. I was deep in thought until a hand made me look up. It was Chiron.

"Has she woken up yet?" He asked quietly. I shook my head.

"Luke, have you ever thought that she might not want to wake up?" Chiron inquired.

"Why would you say something like that?" I stood up and faced him.

"Luke, she's been gravely injured and she's lost her parents. She might not want to wake up," Chiron explained kindly. "Just think about what she's been through."

Chiron patted me on the shoulder and left, leaving me more upset than before. I knew that that hadn't been his intention but still…

Two weeks had passed and every time I tried to use our Empathy link to get to her, the pressure was too great for me. I looked at her face. She was beautiful beyond words. Her eyes were moving. REM: Rapid eye movement. Whatever dream was making her eyes move like that, I hoped it was a good dream.

This time, I held her hand, and tried one more time to contact her. The pressure came, and I expected it to increase to be the unbearable pressure again, but it didn't happen. Instead, I was swept into a flurry of memories… Elizabeth's memories.

I was watching myself in Florida, my eyes flitting between Elizabeth and Jane's dagger. I watched as Henry, Jane and I followed Elizabeth and then we were in the club and I was looking for her. I didn't know why but I had known I had to find her. I had to see her again. The Lastrygonian came up behind us and threw a fireball at us. I pulled Elizabeth down and then we ran for our lives away from the Lastrygonian.

Then I was watching me on the plane with Elizabeth and she was asleep. I watched as I just stared at her. She looked so peaceful. It was one of the rare times I had ever seen her look like that. The only other time I had seen her look like that was when she and I were talking in the bed on Will's quest.

The memories moved on and she was having a nightmare. That was when Will left to go get Chiron.

The dream fast-forwarded to when she was captured by the Cyclopes, and she and I were talking in the bed. Her eyes sparkled and I felt myself smile.

The memory shifted and we everything was black… but I heard voices. It was me and Andy. I was talking to Andy about Elizabeth and how Andy saying I liked Elizabeth was a big understatement.

The last dream was of… of us being attacked two weeks ago. Elizabeth was fighting ferociously. I just watched her the whole time; nothing else could break my concentration. The monsters were destroyed and Elizabeth walked over to me, Derek, and Jamie. I could see us talking and that's when Elizabeth was struck by the _drakon_. I saw her strike the tree with bone-shattering force. Even though I knew that would happen, I still screamed her name in real life, not just in the memory. That was when I saw her, standing over Elizabeth's broken body in the memory. She shimmered and was more like a hologram, like a ghost. She was wearing a flowing white dress that went down to her knees and her hair draped over her bare shoulders. She looked up at me and my knees buckled instantly.

"Luke?" The standing figure asked.

"Elizabeth…" I said weakly as I collapsed to the ground. Elizabeth was next to my side in an instant.

**Elizabeth's POV**

I kneeled next to Luke and put a comforting hand on his back.

"Luke! You came!" I exclaimed softly.

"Your… dead?" He stammered.

"No, I'm not dead. I know I'm not. I'm not sure what's wrong with me."

"You're in a coma back at camp. You won't wake up. You're ice cold and your eye lids are moving rapidly."

"I've been having nightmares and memories, that's probably why," I said.

"Elizabeth, I've tried everything to help you wake up, but you won't. Elizabeth, I'm scared for you," Luke looked at me with his blue eyes, which were filled with pain, seriousness, and sadness.

"Luke, look at me," I said, making him meet my gaze. "This isn't your fault."

"Yes, it is. I should've protected you," He dropped his head and shook it. I lifted it up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Luke, there was nothing you could've done. None of us knew it was coming."

Luke looked at me with pitiful eyes. "I love you, Elizabeth."

"I love you too," I replied instantly. Luke started shaking uncontrollably and I stroked his head, murmuring to him, "It's okay. It's okay."

Luke started to fade.

"Luke! Luke, please stay with me!" I begged. His figure became more transparent.

"Elizabeth, I can't stay! I don't know why! I think my hand is slipping from yours in real life," Luke stared down at his hands and before I knew it, he was gone, and my dream world was going black.

The sound of quiet sobs was the first thing I heard, and then I realized my hand was moving. I peeled my eyes open to slits, just enough to see why my hand was moving. I looked over and saw Luke with his head resting on his crossed arms on my bed. My hand was stroking his blonde hair. It was he who was crying. I could just make out words between his quiet sobs.

"Elizabeth," He sniffled. "I'm so sorry!"

"Luke, I'm fine," I barely heard my voice, but Luke instantly looked up.

"E-Elizabeth?" Luke stared at me.

"You saved me Luke," I said. Luke sat down on my bed and with a shaking hand put his hand on my face.

"You're alive."

"Yes, yes I am. Help me sit up," I told him.

"Elizabeth, you should really keep lying down."

"Help me up please," I repeated. Luke sighed but complied. My vision swam a little at first but I was fine.

"No offense Luke, but you look awful. What's wrong?" I asked.

"I haven't slept for two weeks."

"Why?"

"You've been out for two weeks." His answer shocked me.

"No, I was out for two days, not two weeks," I said. It sounded more like I was trying to convince myself than him though.

"Elizabeth, you've been out cold for two weeks. You haven't moved, you haven't talked, and you've been in a deep coma."

"That's impossible," I murmured. Luke shook his head.

"I'm just glad you're back," Luke hugged me tightly and I hugged back, never wanting to leave his strong arms.


	25. CHP 25: End of the Summer

**Oh my gods! This is the LAST chapter of **_**A Tale of Two Heroes**_**! It's gone by so fast! I hope you enjoy it and I'll let you know when the next story, **_**The Story of Two Heroes**_**, is up and running! Annnnndddd, I might give you a little excerpt from the story but I don't know… Anyway, enjoy the story!**

Chapter 25: The End of the Summer

So, after being confined to my bed for two weeks and having the infirmary fill up with get well cards _and_ being bombarded with hugs from Fi, Andy, and Will _and_ having to explain to Chiron what happened _and_ being asked by Luke if I remembered any of the dream we had had the night I woke up, which I had no recollection of, _and _having to call Alec and explain what happened and why I hadn't returned any of his calls _and_ having to listen to his worried boyfriend talk, it was all rather boring. I was finally allowed to get up and move around, but it had been so long since I had walked that I practically fell and I would've if Luke hadn't been there to catch me.

Speaking of Luke, he was acting strangely. I asked him about it but he just said he had a lot on his mind.

Once I could walk without falling over, I started practicing sword fighting and archery and after a few weeks, I was back in the groove of things.

Alec had called me to see if I wanted to go on a date tomorrow night and I instantly said yes; I wanted to see my boyfriend!

I went to the Hermes cabin and started picking out my outfit. It was a nice restaurant so I chose my beige stilettos and a strapless red dress. After putting them back in my suitcase, I went to talk to Chiron. And by talk, I mean Charmspeak him into letting me go out tomorrow night. He said yes thank the gods!

**Luke's POV**

Gods, was I glad Elizabeth was all right! I can't even explain how much I was glad! She was perfectly fine except for a few memories she couldn't remember.

I had asked her if she remembered the dream we had shared the night she woke up but she couldn't remember it all, and I couldn't either. It was like a blanket smothering me because I knew it had been an important dream but I couldn't remember why! It was driving me up the wall!

Anyway, I was lying in bed. Everyone else was asleep. I tossed and turned but I couldn't fall asleep. Taking a deep breath, I got out of bed and slipped out of the Hermes cabin. I walked over to the Poseidon cabin and tapped the stone five times. The hidden door slid open noiselessly and I stepped down the ladder and walked down the mile long tunnel. I reached the trap door and pushed it open.

"Luke! Wait up!" Elizabeth shouted. I turned around and saw her jogging over towards me.

"Elizabeth, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep. What are you doing here?" She inquired.

"Same as you. Come on," I said. We went up the ladder and then closed the trap door and we lay down on the cool grass. We just stared up at the stars in a comfortable silence.

"Oh, before I forget, just so you know, I have a date with Alec tomorrow so if you can't find me that is why," Elizabeth said out of the blue.

"You have a date with Alec?" I questioned. I hated Alec.

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing; it's something."

"It's nothing!"

"Nothing is something, now tell me!" She urged.

"It's just… I don't like Alec," I admitted. She propped herself on her elbows and stared at me.

"Why not?"

"He's too old for you and I don't know; I just don't like him."

"Luke, he's two years older than me. That's nothing," Elizabeth said.

"I don't like him… he's shifty."

"He's a college guy. A lot of them are like that."

"Why do you keep defending him?" I finally asked, exasperated.

"Because, he's my boyfriend, and if you don't trust your boyfriend, then what kind of relationship is that? What's gotten into you Luke?" She looked at me like I was nuts.

"Nothing has gotten into me; it's just that I don't trust him."

"You don't have to trust him. He's not yours," Elizabeth said, getting up. I stood up as well.

"I don't have to trust him, but I have to look out for you!" I replied fiercely.

"You don't have to look out for me! He can take care of me! I can take care of myself!"

"He can't take care of you! He doesn't know how to fight! And you can't take care of yourself either! Look what happened two weeks ago!" She looked like I had just hit her.

"That's hardly fair Luke. I can take care of myself and whether you like it or not, I'm going on my date with Alec tomorrow."

"Fine, but mark my words, he'll hurt you, and when he does, don't count on me to come running to you," I told her sharply.

"I wasn't counting on you in the first place," She answered simply. Now I looked like she had slapped me. Elizabeth whirled around, and without turning back, left me alone.

What had I been thinking? Girls always got defensive when it came to their boyfriends, especially if they really liked them. I sighed and put my hands on my hips. How could I be so dumb?

**Elizabeth's POV**

I was completely pissed the next day at Luke and he knew it. He steered clear of me. Fi and Will and Andy all noticed. All of them asked me what the hell was going on between me and Luke. I told them everything was okay… they didn't buy it at all but they laid off, obviously knowing I didn't want to talk about it.

The day went by pretty quickly. Luke was nowhere to be seen when I left to go meet Alec at the top of Half-Blood Hill. He was waiting for me as promised.

"Hey, beautiful," He greeted me. He kissed me briefly on the lips and we walked to his car.

We talked about everything that had happened and he asked me repeatedly how I was feeling. I assured him I was fine every time. We arrived at the dinner place and after having the car valet parked, we walked in. The restaurant was amazing but I couldn't forget about last night and my argument with Luke. He had seemed so sure that Alec would hurt me. He wouldn't be saying that now if he saw this place.

"Are you okay?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, rough day yesterday, that's all."

We were seated in a cozy booth and were handed menus. Our waiter came, asked what we would like to drink. We both ordered diet coke. We talked, ate our main course, and split a dessert. I had tried to act like I was having a good time, even though my argument with Luke was bugging me like hell.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" Alec asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been my best friend for years; I know when something is bothering you."

"It's nothing."

"Is it something to do with me?"

"No! I can assure you it has nothing to do with you."

"Then what's wrong?" Alec prodded. I sighed and shook my head.

"I don't know. Luke and I had a fight and he's being so stubborn," I explained.

"What was it about?"

"It doesn't matter," I told him with a smile. "What matters is that I'm with you and I'm having a great time!"

Alec smiled but he didn't drop the subject.

"Elizabeth, oh gods, I don't want to do this," Alec mumbled. I grinned in spite of the situation.

"Did you just say "oh gods?"" I laughed.

"You're rubbing off on me," Alec grinned, but turned serious again. "Elizabeth, how do I say this?"

"Alec, are you breaking up with me?"

"Listen to me first. I've seen the way you look at Luke and the argument you had with Luke wouldn't bother you so much if you didn't love him. He loves you too. I saw the way he looked at you at your birthday party. It wasn't hard to miss… and I've seen the way you look at him and that gleam in your eye whenever you talk about him. I really like you Elizabeth, I really do, but I'm not right for you. You belong with Luke and you know it."

"Alec, I'm so sorry," I said quietly, on the verge of tears.

"Don't be. Come on, let's get you back to camp," Alec said.

"Alec, you know what, you go on. I'll get a ride back to camp."

"Elizabeth, I don't think-" Alec started but I cut him off.

"Alec, please, I'll be fine. I have my deadly sword with me. I'll be fine. I'll have Will or Fi come get me," I assured him.

"Are you sure?" Alec asked.

"I'm sure, go. I'll be fine." I used my Charmspeaking ability to get him to do what I wanted because I know he would never leave me by myself.

"Okay, call or text me when you get to camp," Alec ordered.

"I promise." Alec kissed me on the cheek and I walked to Central Park. I sat on a bench and took out my phone and called Fi.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Hey, Fi."

"Elizabeth, hey, what's up?"

"Hey, could you come pick me up?"

"I can't. My car's in the shop. I'm so sorry! Why isn't Alec giving you a ride home?"

"He broke up with me."

"What?"

"Yeah, hey, can you ask Will if he can pick me up?"

I heard Fi ask Will.

"He can't, he's letting a friend borrow it," Fi told me. "Do you want Chiron to come pick you up?"

"No, it's okay. I'll get a cab."

"Try Luke," Fi suggested.

"Fi, I can't. It's… complicated," I muttered.

"Try him. He's been upset all day and he's been pacing back and forth."

"Fi-"

"CALL HIM!" Fi ordered, and hung up before I could reply. I sighed and went through the contacts on my phone. I hit select and called my only hope of getting home tonight.

**Luke's POV**

I was lying down on my bed when my cell phone rang. I picked it, not bothering to see who it was.

"Hello?" I yawned.

Silence.

"Hello?" I repeated.

"L-Luke?" Elizabeth's voice came over quietly. I sat up quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I need a ride back to camp."

"Why doesn't Alec give you a ride?" I asked. It came out harsher than I meant it too.

"He broke up with me," Elizabeth whispered. I immediately knew she was trying to hold herself together so she wouldn't cry.

"I'm on my way. Just hold tight Elizabeth. Where are you?" I asked, getting up and putting my jacket and shoes on.

"I'm at Central Park on the north side."

"Okay, I'll be right there. Just hold on." I hung up and bolted to my truck. It had been a gift from my mom for my sixteenth birthday. I drove toward Central Park like a bat out of hell.

I reached Central Park in less than an hour because I never dropped below seventy until I got to the city. I drove to the north side of Central Park and immediately saw Elizabeth. She was sitting on a bench looking down at something with her coat wrapped closely around her. Elizabeth looked up at me when she saw me and smiled weakly. I sat down next to her and looked at her.

"You okay?" I asked. Elizabeth just nodded, still looking down at something.

"Yeah, can we go? I'm cold. I nodded, stood up, and held out my hand for her. She took it and I helped her stand up. She seemed taller than usual. I guess she noticed this because she mumbled, "Heels."

I looked down and sure enough, she was in three-inch heels. Only then did I realize what she was wearing. She was wearing a red dress under her leather jacket. Her hair was curled and her makeup was perfect. She looked like a goddess. We started walking. Her head was down and her shoulders were up to block the wind. I put my arm around her and pulled her close to me. She rested her head on my arm because even in heels, she was too short to reach my shoulder. We reached the truck and I opened the door for her. She got in and I went to the other side, got in, and started driving back to camp. We didn't speak the whole way there, but it was okay. She was safe and that was all that mattered.

I pulled into the camp's parking lot and looked over at Elizabeth. Her eyes were closed and her head was resting on the door. I put my hand on her shoulder and she jumped.

"We're here. Stay there; I'll open the door for you," I told her. Elizabeth nodded and I got out of my truck. I opened her door and helped her out of the car. After shutting it, I pulled Elizabeth into a hug and kissed her on the top of her head.

"Do you want to talk in the back of the truck?" I asked.

"Sure," Elizabeth murmured. We walked over to the back of the truck. I opened the back door, and helped her in. I went back around and grabbed a blanket and spread it out in the back and then got in myself. We leaned against the window and stared at the stars.

"Are you cold?" I whispered.

"A little," Elizabeth replied quietly. I scooted over to her and put my arms around her.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He didn't think we were right for each other." She looked up at me and I looked down at her.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean what I said last night."

"I know." Elizabeth put her hand on my cheek.

I leaned forward and put my forehead on hers. Our lips were a mere inch away from each other.

"I love you Elizabeth," I murmured.

"I love you too," She replied without hesitation. I leaned down and kissed her. I was about to pull away when the dream came rushing back to me. It was the dream I had had two weeks ago. I remembered watching her memories. I remembered watching her rush over to me when I collapsed. I remembered her telling me she loved me.

I pulled my lips away, our foreheads still touching.

"Did you see that?" I whispered.

"The dream," She said. Our eyes met and I saw her smile.

"Elizabeth Zoey Banks, would you be my girlfriend?" I asked quietly.

"Yes," She breathed. I smiled, laughed a breathy laugh and kissed her again. Her arms wrapped around me and I pulled her closer to me. It wasn't a lingering kiss anymore. This kiss was filled with love and passion. I'll admit, it was a serious make-out session and I enjoyed every minute of it. Her hair was knotted in one hand and my other hand was on her back, pressing her into me. Her hands were on my face. Neither of us wanted to end it but we knew people would be waiting for us. We caught our breath, both of us restraining to kiss again. I helped her out of the truck and we walked with my arm around her waist back to camp.

**And that's the end of the summer! I can't believe it's over! I'll think about putting a preview up of **_**The Story of Two Heroes**_**. Please review! I'll start writing the next chapter as soon as I put up a few chapters for another story. Bye! See you in the next story!**


	26. Thanks

**So, as the end of this story, I'm doing a thanks again just like I did in my original story. Again, this was 101EmilyRox's idea just so you know.**

CHP 26: Thanks!

**Here's to the countries that read my story:**

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**Thank you to all the people that added my story to their favorites list!**

15Demigod15

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The ice within

Urania Lycoris

**Special thanks to 15Demigod15 and The ice within who have followed my story practically since I started writing it and have reviewed almost every chapter! Thank you so much everyone! :)  
Now, here's the preview for my next story, _The Story of Two Heroes!_**

**Excerpt from Chapter 1:**

**Elizabeth's POV**

"Luke!" I yelled as I ran to Half-Blood Hill. I saw a figure carrying the familiar satyr Grover down the hill. Luke reached me and we bolted to the infirmary. The figure reached the infirmary and Luke and I ran towards them. I could see that Chiron and Annabeth were already there. They were whispering something and then Chiron picked up the boy that had dragged Grover down the hill and into the infirmary. Annabeth followed, supporting Grover. Argus stood watch at the door. Luke and I reached the door.

"Argus, can we go in?" Luke asked. Argus shook his head.

"Please Argus?" I begged.

"Let them in, Argus," Chiron shouted from inside. Argus moved aside and we entered. We walked over to the bed where the beat up figure of a twelve year old boy lay.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"He fought the Minotaur," Chiron answered.

"And he survived? Damn," Luke looked kind of surprised.

"What's his name?" Annabeth inquired.

"His name is Percy Jackson," Chiron replied. I stared at the boy, he seemed so familiar. And then it hit me.

"I know him," I said suddenly.


	27. Preview

**Hi y'all! So this is just a preview of part of the first chapter of my new Percy Jackson story which will be a trilogy. The first story is called **_**Unknown **_**and here is the preview. The chapter will be up Friday night.**

**Quote of the Chapter:**

"**But, uh, you're gonna have to promise me one thing. When you see my dad on the highway to hell? Kick his ass for me."**

**~Luke Castellan from the Percy Jackson movie**

* * *

_**Excerpt from Chapter 1: My Parents Go AWOL**_

**Silena**

Silena Jackson sat in the windowsill of her room drawing a building of grandeur and awe. It was strongly influenced by Greek architecture which Silena loved. She didn't know why but anything Greek fascinated her. The same went for her elder brother, Luke Jackson.

Silena glanced over at their most recent family portrait on her wall.

Her father, Percy Jackson, stood proudly behind Silena and Luke, who were sitting down. Percy's black hair contrasted sharply with her mother's blonde hair.

Her mother, Annabeth Jackson, stood next to him with her arm linked through his. Her blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders. Her mother's smile was full of pride and joy.

Luke was sitting in front of his father. They looked exactly alike from their eyes to their build save for the fact that Luke had inherited Annabeth's blonde locks. He was tall, taller than his father, and one of the tallest kids in their high school. Luke was going to be a senior.

Lastly, there was Silena, sitting in front of her mother. She was the spitting image of her mother with the exception that she had inherited her father's jet black hair. Her hair contrasted sharply with her stormy gray eyes which lightened or darkened depending on her mood. She was going to be a junior this year.

"Silena!" Her mother called. Silena set down her sketch and went downstairs.

"Yeah, mom?" Silena asked.

"Lara's on the phone," Her mom said. Silena took the phone from her mother.

"Hey, Lara," greeted Silena cheerfully.

"Hey! Do you want to go see Sherlock Holmes?"

"Yes! Let me see if I can go though." Covering the phone with her hand, Silena asked her mom, "May I go to the movies to see Sherlock Holmes?"

"You may."

Uncovering the phone, Silena agreed to go to the movies.

"Where's Luke?" Mr. Jackson asked, walking into the kitchen after Silena had hung up with Lara.

"He's with some friends playing football at the park," Silena replied, grabbing an apple.

"I see. And where might you be going?"

"To the movies with Lara," Silena said, grabbing her purse.

"Be careful. We love you," Mrs. Jackson said with a smile.

"Bye mom! Bye dad! Love you!" Silena shouted as she walked out of their house.

The movie had been amazing. Robert Downey Jr. had looked fantastic, even when he had dressed up as a woman Silena had to admit.

Silena searched for her key to the house in her purse. Her purse was an absolute nightmare. She made a mental note to herself that she was going to have to clean it out soon… meaning in a few days, possibly weeks.

Finally, she found it and opened the front door.

Silena nearly screamed when she saw that her house had been ransacked.

* * *

**Okey doke, that was part of the first chapter. I hoped you like it. The full chapter will be up tomorrow night hopefully!**


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